Mass Effect: The Lost Past
by Epsilation
Summary: With no memory of his past, Sean Mason stumbles though life. Until Shepard recruits him for a mission against the Collectors. Trouble arrises as Sean's past life begins to catch up with him! OC/Tali Rated M- graphic violence, language, and sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Lost Past**

**Author's Note: Hi! So this is the first Fan Fic I have written, so please have your comments be informative but gentle. In my past, I have written short stories for classes I was involved with, but this is the first for a large audience. Ok now that I have that down… I have played both Mass Effects and all the DLC and I often think to myself different scenarios I could throw original characters. (No this will not contain characters from other universes or any of that time-travel stuff so calm down). Bla, bla, bla legal stuff. I don't own Mass Effect titles yadda yadda. So any way onto the story. Rated M for violence, language, and some sexual stuff. I hope you enjoy…**

Prologue:

He opened his eyes. The glow of the artificial light caused him to wince and bring his hand up. There were no solid colors, only shapes. He didn't remember where he was; in fact his entire life was a blur. He lifted his head up slowly, but an eruption of pain caused him to drop back down, with a quiet plop. He looked around as color returned to his vision. With his head on the ground he looked at where he was laying. He was in a pool of blood. His entire outfit had absorbed most of the blood, causing his white shirt to become a dark shade of red. He flinched in horror as he struggled to get up, more pain caused him to moan in pain.

Fighting through the pain he slowly drug himself to a wall, leaving a thick trail of blood behind him. Now in a sitting position, he surveyed the alley he woke up in. There were no one else around, leaving him to assume the blood had been his own. He reached into a pile of trash nearby for something so he could see his reflection. He let out a grunt of pain as he felt an icy blade sink into his finger. He griped the object, and pulled it out of the trash pile, producing a shattered piece of a mirror. He smiled as he looked into his own reflection. He looked like shit. His own blood matted his black hair down, his lip was fat along with multiple teeth knocked in, and his eye was black.

"Wonderful." He murmured to himself. With no recollection of the night, he began to search his pockets.

He produced a small slip of paper. The paper, as well, was covered in blood obscuring the bottom half. The only discernable words were at to top of the paper. It read:

Wards-

By Kenn's Salvage

20:22

He crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it aside as he pulled himself up. He winced as his vision blurred and his entire body went numb. He shook the sensation away and instinctively looked down at his wrist. He saw he was wearing a watch. He flicked the watch on and looked at the time. It read 19:59. He shook away most of the pain and hobbled down the twisting streets and alleyways to his destination.

He repeatedly tried to stop people to ask them for directions, but all of them passed him by with a "humph" or "filthy human". Dissuaded and tired, he sat down on a bench and buried his head in his hands.

"You look lost. Can I help you?" a female voice said.

Causing him to quickly look up from the bench. He saw a female figure clad in a worn black flight suit. Her body was trim, her hair was black, but her hazel eyes looked like they could see into his soul. Her eyes seemed so innocent, yet so knowing. Stumbling for words he could only say, "Yea."

"Well where are you headed?" the woman asked.

"Uh… Kenn's Salvage." He finally said, stumbling on the words.

"Oh well it is right there." The woman said pointing.

"Oh well, um… thanks." He said standing up and offering his hand.

The woman paused then shook it, "I'm Katherine, but I like to be called Kate"

"Nice to meet you Katherine." He said pausing.

"And your name?" Kate asked politely.

"If I knew, I'd tell you. Thank you for your help." He said releasing Kate's hand.

"Listen, I realize you're in a bad position. Here are 100 credits. You probably need them more than me." Kate said, placing them in his hand.

"I… I-" He said stumbling on the words.

"It's a gift. If you need any more help I work at the docks." Kate said, "Nice meeting you."

Sighing he walked towards Kenn's Salvage and rubbed his temples, searching for any memory or information on his past. He hit the wall and grunted in frustration when nothing came to him.

"Ah there you are!" a volus said waddling his way towards him. Its small round figure greatly resembled a pig, causing Him to smirk.

"What?" He said in confusion, as he stared at the volus in front of him.

"What happened to you last night?"

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" He said stepping back from the volus.

"I'm." it began then paused, "It's better this way. Here are your new documents, everything about your past life, and…" the volus trailed off, examining the human's form. "We need to get you fixed up. Follow me." It said waiving him forward."

He looked from the papers back to the volus. "Who is this?" he asked, greatly confused.

"It's you! Well the new you." The volus replied. "Get to studying it. I've set up multiple reconstruction surgeries for you; and by the way you look, you'll need them."

He looked down at the papers of information and read the first line:

"Name: Sean Mason"

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Sean walked quickly down the crowded streets of Omega. Sean stood at 5'11". He was trim for a 28 year old, but the baggy sweatshirt and casual pants he wore managed to cover his physical features. The volus he met, after awakening, had taken him to so many places to reconstruct his own body that the only a few miniscule things remained the same, well that and his green eyes. His hair was now a dirty blond color and his skin was nicely tanned. He bumped into a turian who yelled after him, pulling Sean back to reality. The turian yelled an angry comment as he walked by. Sean shrugged off the insult and walked on.

He never liked Omega. It was a cesspool of the Galaxy's rejects. What only seemed like mercenaries and failures lived here, unfortunately that meant him too. He had been busy working and saving up enough money for Kate and himself to move off this god-forsaken asteroid, unfortunately, than meant Sean joining some questionable businesses.

"I don't see the reason we're doing this." Kate said walking inside the Afterlife club. Kate and Sean quickly became friends after their first encounter. It first started with casual meetings, and then slowly evolved to them sharing an apartment. The two were basically inseparable.

"Don't see a reason?" Sean sputtered. "Come on, man, you got promoted! That should be any reason to celebrate!"

"Still. It's a promotion. We don't have to go to a club, much less the Afterlife."

"Don't wimp out on me." Sean said grabbing Kate by the shoulder and pulling her inside. The doors opened, bathing the two friends in pink light. The pulsating rhythms matched the blue asari dancers as the mass of sweating people churned on the dance floor. "Man, are we going to get wasted tonight!" Sean said pumping his fists into the air.

"I don't think that's good for me." Kate said as she began to step backward.

"Come on!" Sean said pulling on her once again. "You're just nervous. Hey you may get lucky tonight with one of the men!"

"You know I'm not ready for that yet." Kate snapped back.

Sean had almost forgot. As they grew close, Kate told Sean that a man assaulted her when she was younger. It left her deeply scared. Sean liked that. It made Kate different from the other women. He felt welcomed when she offered to share her apartment. It felt like he had become part of her family. Sean quickly changed topics. "Ok fine then you can dance with a guy." Sean said, continuing to drag the insistent Kate through the club.

"Whatever." Kate said sitting down at a table, giving in.

"That's the spirit!" Sean said waiving over a waitress. "Um… I'll have the strongest thing you got."

"I'll have something light." Kate said politely.

"No way, you're not!" Sean insisted. "Give her some shooters."

"But… but… ah never mind." Kate said, once again giving in.

The friends bantered on as the night progressed.

"I think I'm done for the night." Kate said, body swaying.

"Yea that's a good idea." Sean said, helping Kate to his feet.

"How- how can you still not be buzzed?" Kate belched, obviously drunk.

"Practice." Sean said as he helped his friend out of the club. "Pretty awesome night? Huh?"

"Yea, thanks for setting this up. You're an awesome friend." Kate said. She slowly leaned her head in close to Sean's. Their lips brushed for a second. Sean quickly pulled away. Taken back, Kate pulled away as well, saying, "I'm so sorry. Please don't be angry."

Sean looked up and flashed a quick smile, "Hey it's alright. It's probably that Krogan liquor taking effect.

"Yea," Kate said blushing and looking away, "it's probably that. Thanks for the celebration."

"Anytime. Now let's get home." Sean said hailing a cab. Sean's omni-tool beeped as it lit up. He pulled up the screen and began to read the message.

"What was that?" Kate said staring at Sean's omni-tool.

Frowning, Sean said, "I got a job to do. Sorry, looks like you'll be headed home alone. Can you do that?"

"Man, you always get these calls around this time." Kate said pouting.

"Well I thought tonight was different."

"Well it was." She said playfully hitting him on the arm.

Smiling, Sean gave the directions to the cab driver and helped Kate into the cab. "See ya." He said watching the cab fly off. Once the cab was out of sight, Sean slowly slipped into the alleyways, pulling his hood up and blending into the crowd.

Sean once again pulled up the message as he entered the Talon clan's space in the Omega wards. The Talon's were a small, all turian, gang that had been slowly growing inside of the Omega wards. Sean knew that any attack inside of their territory was considered an act of war. He needed to make sure his hit was perfectly clean. His employer wanted a batarian dead, Parak Balur. According to the report, he had constantly been selling tainted weapons to human companies. These tainted weapons would overheat and explode in the user's hands after three shots, causing multiple innocent deaths.

Sean didn't like his job much, but his expertise with weapons was his only marketable skill, and his job put enough money on the table to provide for both him and Kate. He felt he owed Kate that much. Kate had saved him multiple times as he restarted his life, quickly becoming a friend. When he found Kate lived in squalor he instantly pooled what he had together and rented an apartment for the both of them. The apartment was expensive, which lead to Sean starting up his job as an assassin. It helped knowing that the people he was killing deserved it, which brought his some solace.

He had to admit, what once started as a friendship was slowly forming into a relationship. There had been minor changes in Kate's reactions for the past year, but what just happened gave Sean evidence that it was inevitable. He didn't want them to go much further, to become becoming intimate. In his mind their friendship was priceless. He didn't want to throw it away with a sloppy relationship.

He sighed and pushed his thoughts of Kate to the back of his mind. His job was what was important at the moment. It had taken a long time, but Sean slowly became noticed by larger employers through his covert style of killing. He would perfectly execute his target and leave no evidence behind, earning him the call sign, Ghost. At first Sean didn't like the new name, but when his jobs doubled and his payout skyrocketed, he learned to cope.

As he neared his location, he smirked. Parak's house was simply defended. Only a few bars on the windows and a keypad lock on the front door. This would be his easiest kill.

Upon reaching the door, Sean pulled out an auto-hacker he had been supplied and placed it on the keypad. He heard a distinctive click and opened the door cautiously. Sean pulled out his silencedM-5 Phalanx pistol and scanned the house. The house was two stories, and his target was probably on the second.

He slowly rounded the corner, examining the layout of the house when a heavy weight smashed into him, carrying him to the wall. As his mind recovered from the shock, he realized his attacker was a krogan, Parak's bodyguard. The krogan was wearing light body armor, not expecting an attack, but still prepared. Sean silently cursed his carelessness as the krogan pinned him to the wall. Growling, the krogan beat the pistol out of Sean's hand and kicked it aside. Sean took the momentary weight shift as a chance to strike.

Sean kneed the krogan in the groin. The krogan groaned in pain as his grip lessened. Sean tore loose and expanded the distance from him and the krogan. The krogan then turned to face Sean and pulled a twelve inch blade out from its sheath, grinning. Sean's eyes widened as he realized that this job was about to become much harder. Sean, as well, pulled a blade he had concealed in his boot out. The krogan roared as he swung the blade at Sean. Sean easily parried it away, taking two quick slashes at the krogan's body armor.

Sean jumped back and saw that his attack had created a deep gash in the armor, a weak spot. The krogan, unfettered attacked again. Sean tried to dodge away, but the blade caught the side of his sweater, cutting it open. Sean spun and rammed his knife, as hard as he could, into the krogan's chest. The krogan stumbled then fell to his knees in the process, stabbing his blade through Sean's left foot and into the floor. Sean groaned in pain as he brought his right knee up into the krogan's face. The krogan fell backwards, stunned.

Sean took the opportunity as he pulled the krogan's blade from his foot. Twirling the blade, Sean positioned himself in front of the krogan, and drove the blade deep into its skull. The krogan shivered as blood coursed past the blade and through the wound, spattering on Sean's sweater.

Sean paused and listened, hopeful that he didn't alert Parak. He heard quiet thumping of the bass in a song and he slowly let out his breath. Sean quickly bandaged up his foot and found his gun then continued to survey the house. He heard loud music and running water in the distance and slowly made his way to the bathroom. Parak was in fact in the shower. Sean relaxed and made his way to the bedroom, sitting down on the bed and waited.

Minutes later, the water shut off. He heard footsteps near the bedroom as he raised his pistol to the door. The batarian entered casually then froze in mid stride.

"Hello Parak. I've come to return my pistol." Sean said raising his M-5 Phalanx to Parak's forehead, aiming in between his four eyes, "It's defective." He said pulling the trigger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for all those awesome reviews and follows. I feel * sniff * so happy! Tell the truth, I didn't expect such interest so quickly. But that's just me… Thanks so much! Anywho, for all the good responses, here's chapter 2! A bit more building, but Shepard will show up soon!**

Chapter 2

Sean turned before he exited the door, surveying his work. He had managed to clean his entire DNA out of the house, but it was sloppy. Chairs were strewn about the room, there was his dent in the wall, and blood from the krogan was smeared across the walls as well as the floors. It made him cringe as he left the house; perhaps he could blame it on another assassin trying to take his kill. Sean tried to hide his limp as he once again blended in with the crowd, headed home.

As he rounded the corner to the apartment complex, he waved one of the guards over.

"What seems to be the problem, Mr. Mason?" The guard said stepping forward.

Faking his own horror, he said, "I don't know. I- I think someone is after me." His voice dropped to a whisper, "Don't let any visitors for me in alright. Tonight or tomorrow." Dropping a 50 chit into the guard's hand.

"Yes Mr. Mason." The guard said clasping his hand shut.

"Thank you," Sean said as he swiped his residency card and entered the complex.

The strong flow of adrenaline had finally burned off in his body. Exhaustion gripped every muscle in his body as he finally opened the door to his apartment.

"Oh my God, are you all right?" Kate said looking up from the dining room table.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Sean said hobbling into the apartment.

"Alright? Jesus, you're foot's bleeding!" Kate said rushing over to her friend's side.

"Listen I just smashed my foot. I need some rest, that's all." Sean said, trying to push Kate aside.

"Listen to me!" Kate commanded, forcing Sean to sit. "What happened?"

"Really, I don't want to talk about it." Sean said fidgeting and taking his boots off. Sean could feel Kate glaring at him. He thought if he told Kate the full story he would scare her off, causing Kate to no longer trust him, to destroy their friendship. He knew there was only one way around it. Sighing, Sean lied, "Someone attacked me as I was walking down the street."

"My God!"

"Yea just out of now where! He shot me in the foot, but I managed to fight him off."

"Do you want me to fix it up?" Kate offered as she reached down to Sean's foot.

"Do you, know how to?" Sean said getting nervous.

"Before I left home I learned about basic medical treatment and self defense."

"If you could stop the bleeding that would be great." Sean said stretching out his foot.

"I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't try…" Kate said smiling as she began to work on Sean's foot.

Sean woke up slowly to the artificial light. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. He itched his foot but winced as his finger ran across the stitches that held his wound together. He stood up and gingerly put weight onto his damaged foot. It ached, but Sean fought through the pain as he looked around the room and spotted a crutch with a note tied to it. Delicately walking over, Sean read what was written:

Thought you might need this.

-Kate

Sean smiled and grabbed the crutch and quickly put it under his arm, breathing a sigh of relief as the pain subsided. He made his way to the door and opened it, heading to his apartment's dining room. Kate sat there quietly reading the daily news while eating her normal breakfast, eggs and an Omega equivalent of a bagel.

Turing Kate said, "Oh didn't here you there! How are you feeling?"

Wincing, Sean said, "Better. Thanks to you."

"Like I said before, I'm here to help." Kate said pulling a chair for Sean. "Listen I'm sorry about what happened last night." She said blushing.

"I said before that it's alright." Sean replied smiling casually.

"I don't know what came over me."

Sean walked behind her and placed his hand or her shoulder. "It's fine."

Kate smiled as she slowly lifted her hand and squeezed Sean's.

Suddenly Sean's stomach cramped and he felt the bubble in his throat. "Ulp," Sean managed to utter before he jumped up and sprinted to the bathroom.

"Yea that's a side effect of the medication I had you on last night. You should feel better soon." Kate said, her eyes not leaving her omni-pad.

"Thanks for the warning!" Sean called back sarcastically, quickly returning to the toilet bowl.

Minutes later Sean emerged from the bathroom, wiping off his lip.

"Like I said…" Kate stated giggling

"Whatever." Sean said returning to the seat. "So what's the plan for today?" he said taking a sip of water, trying to remove the taste from his throat.

Kate pulled out two tickets and threw them onto the table, "Well because of last night, we're leaving."

"Leaving?" Sean said spitting out the water he was drinking.

"You were attacked! Plus I think it's about time to leave this Hell hole."

"But- the- if-" Sean sputtered

"You're not going to convince me otherwise." Kate said standing her ground.

Giving up, Sean said, "Well then where are we headed?"

"Illium."

"Illium?"

"Yea I remember you constantly talking about the city, plus I've found a decent apartment we can afford with our salaries."

"Is there anything I can do?" Sean offered.

"Yea start packing. The shuttle leaves in four hours, and you know I like to get there an hour prior." Kate said tossing a duffle bag at Sean.

"Yea, yea, yea…" Sean said hobbling back to his room. He paused looking out the barred window down at the street. Two turians were in, what looked like a heated, argument with the apartment complex guards. Sean paused. He began questioning his cleaning methods of the previous nights. Did he miss something? Was his blood in the mix? No, no it couldn't be. He was too careful. _Their probably arguing over the prices or something like that_, Sean thought, reassuring himself. He turned away from the window and began throwing his clothes and basically everything he could fit into his duffle bag.

Sean opened his drawer and removed his pistol and knife. He stared at them, remembering every one of his kills; hints of regret slipping into his mind. They were going to a new place, a chance for Sean to restart his life. He could start a good job, be at peace, and be normal. Though he wasn't normal. He had no past, his only friend didn't know who he really was, and the only thing he trusted was his knife.

Sean's head perked up as he heard the artificial sound of the doorbell. He slowly walked out of his bedroom. He paused as his conversation with the guard last night echoed through his mind.

"I've got it." Kate said, emerging from her own room.

"No!" Sean said in a loud whisper.

"Why not?" Kate said confused, turning to face Sean.

"Something's not right." Sean said gripping his pistol tight.

"What's wrong?"

"Just get over here!" Sean hissed waiving his hand.

Kate slowly walked into Sean's room. "What's going on?" Kate said, her voice becoming scared.

"Just get down!" Sean hissed, pulling his pistol up to his chest, and peaking at the door.

"Oh my God! The guards! They're dead!" Kate said looking out the window, her hands quickly covering her mouth.

"Damn it!" Sean cursed, preparing for the inevitable attack. The door then burst open and two objects were thrown inside. "Get down!" Sean ordered, pulling Kate to the ground with him. Sean covered his ears as the objects detonated in a flash of light and sound. Kate was not prepared; the flash-bang managed to both blind and disorient her. She flailed and curled up into a fetal position, waiting for the effect to wear off.

Ears ringing, Sean hopped up. As his hearing quickly came back to him, he moved and positioned himself by the doorway and listened for the footsteps. As one drew near, Sean crouched down and drew his knife, holstering his pistol. He reached out and pulled down one of the attackers, getting them into a headlock. He stared down and sawa turnian with a burn on the side of its neck. The burn could only mean one thing; these people were mercs. The only reason a merc would burn off his tattoo was for a confidential assignment, so he couldn't be tracked. _Shit. This is going to get bad. _Sean thought as he twisted his arm. He felt three pops from the turian's vertebra, and the turian went limp. Pulling the dead merc from the doorframe, Sean checked in on Kate. Kate was slowly lifting herself up to a sitting position, shaking feeling of disorientation away.

"What's going on?" Kate yelled unaware of how loud her voice was.

Sean cringed as his position was instantly given away. He leaped out from cover and ducked into a somersault, moving to the nearest room, seamlessly. In his roll, Sean counted three mercs headed his way. The startled mercs opened fire on Sean, missing all shots. He could hear them yell orders to each other and finally one began to move. Sean smiled as he reached for a sheet off of Kate's bed.

The merc entered the room quickly and paused. He had expected to be shot, but from what he saw, his target was not in the room. He relaxed a bit, and Sean lunged out from behind the bed. He wrapped the bed sheet around the merc and spun him into a chokehold. Sean entered the hallway again, but this time prepared. Sean felt the mercs open fire as their bullets sunk deep into the man he was holding. Sean threw the spent body at the other three mercs, throwing them off balance. He lifted up his pistol and quickly fired three shots, one into the heads of each of the mercs. Everything went silent.

Sean slowly made his way to the bedroom. Kate sat there, hands covering her eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Kate whispered.

"Come on we need to get out of here." Sean said coaxing her up. Reluctantly Kate stood up. She was stunned, just walking in a stupor. She froze in terror as he saw the bodies of four mercs in the hallway. "Come on. Let's get to the station."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I apologize on how short this chapter is, so I'll upload Chapter 4 today as well. Thanks for the follows and the especially to Lordy for bringing up something I completely missed. I managed to somewhat fix that.**

**So a view into my life. I have the first 7 chapters basically done. There rough, but I polish them up every night. So I'll be adding them in at least once a day. Thanks for the reviews and all the subscribers! Keep up the comments!**

Chapter 3

Sean was on high alert. As he walked, his head was on a swivel. His hand hovered over the spot where his concealed pistol rested, ready to pull it out at a moments notice. As Sean and Kate arrived on the platform of the transportation dock, his hope rose. It looked like a slow day. Only a little over a hundred people were wandering about the terminals

"Come on! Let's go!" Kate insisted, pulling Sean.

Sighing, Sean said, "We can't go to Illium. The first thing the people who are after us are going to do is check for outgoing flights with our names on them."

"So let's buy some new tickets." Kate insisted, scared.

"That's not how it's going to work. We need to go in a way that they can't track us. I contacted a friend. He'll help us out." Sean said slowing down.

They waited in complete silence. Quickly, a salarian dockworker walked up to Sean.

"Hello, Mr. Ghost sir." He said quickly. "What seems to be the problem?"

Taking an authoritative tone, Sean said, "We need to get off this planet. We've got some heat behind us."

"Incognito. I understand." The salarian said looking behind him. He paused then motioned for the pair to follow them. Sean helped Kate forward as they slipped behind the lines, and eventually the terminals. "It won't be comfortable." The salarian warned.

"I understand." Sean said coldly.

"Here we are." The salarian said, scanning the crate. "Looks like you're headed to Earth." He commented.

"Earth?" Kate exclaimed.

"Anywhere but Illium." Sean said silencing her.

"Aright get in." The salarian said opening up the refrigerator sized crate.

Kate paused but was helped forward by both Sean and the salarian. She let out a painful sigh as she sat down. She buried her face in her hands and let her emotions overtake her.

"Thanks." Sean said dropping a one hundred credit chit in the salarian's hand. "Another thing. I need you to send these people on a wild chase." Sean said handing over the tickets to Illium.

"That's what I do best." The salarian said grinning.

"Thank you." Sean said also stepping into the crate. The salarian closed the box and everything went dark.

Sean could hear Kate crying softly. He tried to console her, but he knew it would take plenty of time.

The ride went in complete silence.

* * *

><p>One week later<p>

Sean settled down on the couch of his new Earth apartment. Sean squinted as the sunlight pierced through the window. Pressing a button, the windows auto-darkened, making the light more tolerable. He sighed audibly as he turned on the Galactic News channel.

The charming female voice flooded the room as Sean leaned back onto the couch. She calmly explained that Sidonis turned himself over to C-Sec and fully confessed to murdering his own team and the complications of his confession are that Omega has no government to extradite him. She said as pictures appeared, mirroring her story. The TV suddenly turned black.

"What the-" Sean began as he turned around, seeing Kate holding the remote.

"I need to understand what happened back on Omega." Kate said sternly, tossing the remote out of Sean's reach.

"Do we half to talk about this now?" Sean asked, desperate to avoid the conversation.

"You've been avoiding talking about what happened for the past week. I want to know, my life is in danger!" Kate said, crossing her arms over her chest and holding her ground.

"Listen, it was just self defense." Sean lied.

"No. No it wasn't. I've seen self-defense. Jesus, I've done self-defense. That, that made the self-defense I learned look like child's play"

Running his hands through his hair Sean said, "I really don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"It was just something that stayed with me."

"Right the 'amnesia'. That's not going to work on me, Sean." Kate said her voice growing annoyed.

"I'm telling you the truth!" Sean said standing up and throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Oh. So now you're being truthful?" Kate yelled.

"You want the truth?" Sean said raising his voice as well.

"Please, Sean. We're best friends. There shouldn't be secrets between us." Kate said her voice getting calmer.

"Fine." Sean said. He began to spill the entire story. He told Kate everything; when he woke up in a pool of his own blood, when he started the wet work business, even his last hit. After he finished, he sighed. It felt like he had lifted a weight off of his chest. He began to relax as Kate pondered the story

"Have you been keeping it from me this entire time?" Kate spoke up, once again getting frustrated

"I was protecting you." Sean said confused at her reaction.

"From what? We were attacked! How am I supposed to feel safe if you've got people after you?"

"Listen, I know this is my fault. I'll take the repercussions."

"It's not that same! I- I just need to get out for a while." Kate said stepping out the door.

"Fuck!" Sean yelled throwing a chair to the ground. He began pacing the apartment irritably. He was on the verge of loosing his friend. He couldn't let that happen. Ideas began running through his mind. He could start over, like before, then he'd be safe and so will Kate. He could do that.

Hours passed and still no sign of Kate. Sean still paced wildly around the apartment. There was a quiet tone as a new message popped up on the computer. Sean rushed over to it. It was a video message, sent from an omni-tool. Sean quickly opened it up. Kate's face appeared on the holographic screen.

"What?" Sean muttered completely confused as he sat down in the chair.

"Hello Sean. When you receive this message, I will be on my way back home." She looked away from the screen, wiping away some tears that were forming in her eyes, "Why Sean? Why? I trusted you. Hell, I even fell in love with you. You made me feel safe. Now, now I don't know what to think. I just don't feel safe."

Sean swallowed audibly. He was so confused. Kate loved him? How could he have been so stupid? His emotions welled inside of him, but he pushed them down trying to make it through the entire message.

"I just need some time alone." Kate continued, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her face. "Please don't try to contact me. I need time to think. Good bye, Sean." The screen then darkened as the message ended.

Sean just sat there. He felt as though a bomb had just blown up in his stomach. His emotions emerged in a flurry. Tears began to form in his eyes as he angrily jumped up. In total rage he flipped over the table, shattering what rested on it all over the floor. He sat back down, and covered his face as he let his sadness and emptiness overtake him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Ok so I lied, it is now technically tomorrow. I guess that's what I get when I do my work from 10PM-1AM. So here's part 2. Oh and Shepard is here! So let the story begin! Don't got much else to say so… have fun reading.**

Chapter 4

Shepard stepped into the platform as a light scanned her body.

"Shepard." A gravely voice greeted her. The Illusive Man sat comfortably in his chair, looking out on a forming star.

"What do you want?" Shepard said angrily.

"You preformed exceptionally on your last mission." The Illusive Man said slowly spinning to face Shepard. "I've been looking at two possible recruits."

"And?" Shepard said egging on the Illusive Man.

"They're both quite skilled and would be a valuable asset to your growing team. You can only pick one. I'm forwarding you their dossiers."

"Wait. Why only one?" Shepard said, confusion quickly forming into her voice.

"We're hiring their service."

"So they're mercs."

"They're damn good at their jobs." The Illusive man said coldly, taking a slow drag from his cigarette.

"So I have no choice."

"You always have a choice, Shepard. I picked them, it's up to you to hire them. The Illusive Man shot back. There was a long pause. The Illusive Man spoke again, breaking the silence, "Good luck out there Shepard." He said terminating their call.

Shepard stepped out of the Briefing Room and back onto the Combat Information Center.

"EDI." Shepard called.

"Yes Commander?" The glowing orb asked as it materialized in front of Shepard.

"Please tell me where these men are." Shepard said loading the dossiers into the database.

"They both appear to be on Omega." EDI quickly stated

"Thank you. That'll be all."

"Of course Commander." EDI said, once again disappearing into the ship.

Shepard walked up to the cockpit and was quickly greeted by Joker, the pilot, "I was thinking of installing lava lamps. Maybe Christmas lights for ambiance? What do you think?"

"I don't think that would be that good of an idea." Shepard said resting her arms on Joker's seat.

"Kill joy." Joker said disheartened. "So what's up?" He quickly asked, scratching his beard.

"I need you to set a course for Omega." Shepard said.

"Omega? Trying to get into more trouble?" Joker teased.

"Looking for a new recruit."

"Recruit?" Joker exclaimed. "We need more of those? Do we even have enough room on the ship?"

"We do have one cabin on the engineering level open, as well as the port observation deck." EDI chimed in.

"Fine." Joker said rolling his eyes. He punched in the coordinates, "ETA eight hours."

"Thanks Joker." Shepard said as she walked onto the elevator.

* * *

><p>Sean felt like shit. He was a complete mess. Even one month after Kate had left him, tearing a piece of his heart out, he still hadn't gotten over it. His life had went downhill after that day. He lost the apartment and was forced to move back to Omega. This time, he got a smaller crappier apartment to live in, alone. Sean tried to get back into the wet work business, but because of his sloppy work on his last assignment no one wanted to hire him.<p>

"Damn kid. You've been here every day this past month." The turian bartender rudely observed.

"Go to Hell." Sean mumbled as he began to drown his sorrows with alcohol. He then slammed the empty glass back onto the bar, signaling for another.

"Just go home." The turian grumbled as he poured another.

"Excuse me." A female said stepping up to the counter. She was clad in dark grey armor. A distinct red stripe down her right arm displayed her rank, commander. "I'm looking for someone."

Sean ignored her and continued to look into his glass.

"Look just because I'm a bartender doesn't mean I know everyone on Omega." The turian said gruffly.

"I'm looking for a man that goes under the call sign of 'Ghost'," the female said.

Sean stopped mid drink and glanced over at the woman. Why on earth would someone be looking for him? He was a failure.

"Ghost, I haven't heard that name in a while. That guy was talented, one of the best. No one knows where he is. He just vanished." The turian bartender said cleaning out a glass.

"So you're saying there is no way I can get a hold of him." The female said crossing her arms.

"You could always put up wanted posters." The bartender sarcastically said.

"Lets go." The female said turning and walking away, visibly irritated.

A turian chuckled from behind the female human. Sean couldn't help but turn his head. The turian was clad in blue armor and there was a nasty scar across his face from what looked like a close-ranged explosion. The turian spoke up, "I remember Ghost. Talented kid. He sure knew how to finish a job."

Sean smiled as he spun in his seat to get a better look at his possible new employer. A pair of krogan entering the bar quickly drew his attention away.

"Where's Ghost?" the one in red armor boomed. Both raised their shotguns and aimed them around the bar. The female human and her companions reached for their weapons, but were too slow. The other krogan was already pointing his shotgun at them. They reluctantly put their weapons away, stepping back.

"Where is he?" the red armored krogan demanded again. "Tell us or we begin shooting!" He lifted the shotgun to the turian bartender's head.

People around the bar began to run for the door. Quickly the other krogan turned and shot them. Their bodies fell to the ground as their blood colored the blue tinted walls red.

Only seven people remained in the bar: Sean, the bartender, the two krogans, the female human, and her two companions.

"What about you?" the red armored krogan said turning his gun to point at Sean.

"Ghost?" Sean said, playing along.

"Yes!"

"I can get in touch with him." Sean said a crooked grin spreading across his face.

There was a long pause, then red armored krogan shivered then fell to the ground, two bullet holes in his head. Sean stood up slowly training his pistol on the other.

The other krogan roared as he dashed at Sean. Sean gracefully sidestepped the krogan and pulled out a concealed grenade he had always kept in his sweater, priming it.

"Bring it on dinosaur." He taunted.

The krogan roared again charging at Sean. Timing it perfectly, Sean thrust his fist forward, into the mouth of the krogan. The krogan stopped, caught completely off guard. Sean just smiled as he released the grenade into the krogan's throat. He then delivered a swift kick to the krogan's genitals. It moaned in pain as he fell to the ground stunned by the pain. Sean ran and slid behind a toppled table. Moments later a muffled boom was heard as the grenade detonated, spraying blood and guts everywhere around the bar. He stood up and examined his work. _Ghost is back. _He thought to himself, smiling. It was a long missed feeling. He couldn't help it. It was like a superhero putting back on the cape.

"Nice job there." The female said casually walking toward him. "Commander Shepard," She said offering Sean her hand.

"Sean Mason, or Ghost." He said accepting her hand. "So why does the great Commander Shepard come all this way to meet me?"

"You peaked my interest." She said smiling. "I was considering recruiting you. Have you heard of the Collectors?"

"Straight to business." Sean remarked, "You have my attention."

"I believe someone with your talents would be essential to my team."

"I accept. Only under one condition: I never set foot on Omega again."

Shepard paused, wondering what he meant by that comment, but quickly accepted the easy offer. "Deal." Shepard said shaking his hand again.

"So when do I start?" Sean asked, falling behind Shepard's stride.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Yeah don't have much to say today. Kinda tired… But I must fight on!**

Chapter 5

"I don't think I'll get used to this uniform any time soon." Sean remarked, running his hands across his tight, Cerberus labeled, tee shirt.

"Hey it shows off your muscles." Shepard commented, chuckling.

Sean chuckled as well and let his arms drop to his sides.

"There's a open room in the starboard cargo room on the engineering deck. EDI will show you where." Jacob chimed in, arms firmly crossed across his chest.

"Eager to get rid of me?" Sean teased.

"I don't trust assassins." Jacob responded.

"Well I guess this is a personal matter." Sean said, emotion leaving his voice.

"I need to know one thing, Mr. Mason, can you follow orders." Shepard intervened.

"I don't know much about my past, but one thing is for certain, I respect and obey my superiors." Sean said.

"So is that a yes?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, maim." Sean said straightening into attention.

"Good. Your effects have been moved there as well. In the mean time, get comfortable with the ship. I'll message you when your services are needed." Shepard said leaving the Briefing room.

"Don't get too comfortable." Jacob warned, his eyes digging into Sean.

"Alright mom." Sean teased, raising his hands in surrender and quickly walking out.

Sean tried to blend in as he walked casually through the CIC and called the elevator. He didn't like being singled out, but he knew that he was the 'new guy' on the Normandy and a lot of attention was going to be brought to him. He sighed as he meandered forward

"Hello there." Came a perky voice from behind Sean.

"Oh, hi." He said turning and giving a small wave.

"I'm Kelly Chambers. I'm the yeoman on the Normandy." Kelly said smiling.

"Hi, I'm Sean. Sean Mason." He said casually offering his hand.

Taking his hand, she said, "Ah, yes. You must be the merc we just picked up off of Omega."

"That's me." Sean said.

"I hope you can get used to your new room on the Normandy." Kelly said

"Yea that won't be a problem. I've been in worse." Sean said his face dropping.

"Oh I'm sorry." Kelly quickly said, "Do you mind if I ask why?"

"You'll need to get to know me first." Sean said smirking as he entered the elevator. As the door shut, Sean cringed. What the hell did he mean by that last comment? The words rang though his mind.

_Damn, _he thought as the elevator descended, _what's wrong with me? _He sighed and calmed himself

The elevators opened on the fourth level, the engineering deck and Sean stepped out.

"Hey, Gabby, what do you think of our new quarian boss?" a male voice from around the corner said.

"Hush. She's right over there." The female, Gabby, said quickly trying to stop her loud-mouthed partner.

Sean peaked his head into the Engineering part of the ship. He saw a redheaded male and female working closely together on the right side. They both wore Cerberus branded uniforms, like Sean. Their body language said that they had been friends for a while, and were comfortable in just about any situation. On the far left side was a quarian.

Sean paused. He had never seen a quarian up close, much less worked with one. She wore a black bull body suit with a purple hood and visor. Her purple hood had beautiful artwork embossed in it, giving off a comfortable vibe about her. She stood straight, intently working on the holographic console before her. She was so engrossed in her work she seemed to block out everything around her. Sean quickly realized he was uncomfortably eyeing her and quickly turned away. _You're not ready yet. _Sean's mind warned him. _If you jump into this too quickly you'll only regret it later._ Sean nodded as he once again listened into the human engineers' conversation.

"Ah, she can't hear us with her head in that bucket." The man said grinning, "Don't get me wrong; it's a beautiful bucket. The whole suit is lovely. Quite snug in all the right places."

"You know I can hear you." The quarian said glancing up from her console.

"Ha!" Gabby sneered as the man blushed and quickly returned to his work. Sean let out a loud laugh, causing all three of them to turn.

"Oh sorry." Sean apologized, "I'm Sean. I'm new here. Shepard picked me up on Omega."

"Oh yea, I remember Shepard talking about that. I'm Ken and this is Gabby." Ken said pointing to the woman to his left.

"Nice to meet you." Gabby said cheerfully, "Oh and that's our boss, Tali." Gabby said pointing to the quarian.

"It's Tali'Zora vas Neema, but you can call me Tali." The quarian chimed in looking up at Sean.

_Tali, got to remember that name. _Sean thought to himself. "Nice to meet you." Sean said waiving to Tali. Tali just silently stared back.

"So where does Shepard have you situated?" Ken asked

"Um… Starboard cargo." Sean said, shuffling.

"Just be careful not to go into the other cargo bay." Ken warned, "There's an irritable krogan trying to settle there. He gives me the creeps." Ken added, shuddering.

"Thanks for the warning." Sean said, "It was nice meeting you all." He added walking off to his room.

The door slid open to reveal a moderately sized room. To Sean's immediate right sat a small desk and chair with a computer set up on it. Next to the desk was a small cot; his personals lay on top of it. Sean quickly went over to his luggage and rifled through it until he pulled out his M-96 Mattock rifle and M-5 Phalanx pistol. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he gingerly placed them on the table. Both weapons meant a lot to him. Both had a lot of personal meaning to him. The Phalanx was his weapon of choice, with his custom built silencer no enemy stood a chance when he caught him off guard. The Mattock, on the other hand, was the weapon his employer had given him as a gift once he became one of the top assassins on Omega. The Mattock was a marvel. Sean had never once fired it, he never saw a reason to use it given his covert style of kills, but he knew when the opportunity arose, he wouldn't hesitate to use it.

Sean casually rested them on a nearby crate and began to fully unpack. Once all his effects had found their respected places he flopped onto his cot and let out a deep sigh as he relaxed. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.

_So this is the famous Normandy._

_It's cozy. _

_Not as cozy as home._

_I wonder how Kate is doing. _

_No. She left you don't be stupid._

_But she deserves to know._

_No, listen to me. She left you because she couldn't handle you. She deserves to be left alone._

_Shut up! She still cares about me. We were friends._

_Listen to yourself._

_Screw you, I'm going to leave her a message; plus it's been ages since I have checked my messages._

_I'm warning you._

Sean sat up and made his way to the desk and began to work on the computer. As he logged on he saw he had twenty unread messages. He sifted through the spam and narrowed it down to two. One was from his contractor and one was from Kate. Sean paused. Kate had contacted him. He quickly opened the message and began to read it.

Dear Sean,

About what happened. I think we rushed too quickly. I don't know what went on. I would really like to talk to you about it, face to face. I'm now living on the Citadel it would be great to see a familiar face. Please respond to me when you get this message.

Sincerest apologies,

Kate

Sean started at the screen. He was confused. So many emotions had risen he didn't know how to act. He took a deep breath and wrote his response:

Kate,

It's good to hear from you again. I would like to set up a meet date, but I am currently positioned on a star ship and I do not know when I will be landing but when I do, I'll be sure to inform you.

_ Sean_

Sean smiled as he sent the letter and quickly stood up. He walked out of his room and made his way to the galley. When he arrived, he was surprised to see most of the crew there. They were milling about and chatting comfortably with each other. Sean grabbed a tray and walked over to the cook.

Looking up, the cook quickly said, "Ah you must be the new guy. I'm Gardner."

"Nice to meet you Gardner, I'm Sean." Sean said as he received his meal. He turned and scanned the area for an open seat. He spotted an empty table in the corner and made his way there. He sat and quietly began to pick at his meal. Absorbed in his own thoughts of his new life.

A voice from behind made him jump, "Ah, so you must be the famous Ghost." A turian said as he took a seat across from him.

"You're well informed." Sean said returning to his meal, "but I used to be."

"Get plenty of kills?" the turian heckled.

"I'm not in it for the kills, I was in it to rid Omega of the thieves and scoundrels." Sean corrected.

"Oh." He said pausing. "Well I guess you and I aren't that different."

"How so?" Sean asked peaking up from his meal at the turian.

"I had a band of mercs with me." He let out a painful laugh, "We had every gang in Omega after me; Eclipse, Blue Suns, Blood Pack, you name it."

"That story sounds familiar." Sean said intrigued.

"Yea, that was the infamous merc Archangel." The turian said, "I heard he was quiet the catch. The ladies loved him you know?"

"Ha! And how would you know?" Sean chuckled. He then paused as he put the pieces together. "No." He could only manage to say as he stared slack jawed at the turian in front of him.

"I see you are beginning to pick it up." The turian said smiling.

"I can't believe we meet each other again!" Sean said, "I still remember our chat way back. You know you really changed my outlook."

"Thanks, but I think formal recognitions are in order. Garrus Vakarian." He said offering his hand.

"Sean, Sean Mason."

The two talked and laughed through their meals.

**Author's After Note: Ah. Joining the Normandy. New friendships and all… You know every time I read the part where Sean is talking to himself I think Deadpool. Anyways Thanks for being fans!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Why can't you do it?" A smooth voice yelled, angrily reverberating through Sean's head.

Sean looked down at his hand and saw he was holding a pistol. The pistol was an ancient revolver from the 2000s. One single shot was loaded into it, an execution shot. His entire body shook as he looked forward. There strapped to a chair was a salarian. The salarian was badly beaten and gagged. Blood streamed from his nostrils and from multiple cuts on his face.

"You know what he did! He deserves it." The voice hissed in his ear. "Do it!"

Sean lifted the pistol and pointed it at the salarian. Tears began to stream down its eyes as it desperately shook, trying in vain to break loose of its bonds. Sean slowly squeezed the trigger. He then quickly turned the pistol and fired the shot into the wall behind the salarian. The salarian stared at him in shock. It breathed a sigh of relief. Two loud bangs sounded immediately afterward. The salarian toppled to the floor, green blood gushing from the holes in its head. The eyes of the salarian stared up into Sean's as the life drained from it as quickly as the pool of blood expanded around it's head. Sean trembled in horror.

"Pathetic." A man said, his voice icy. He yanked the empty revolver from Sean's hand and returned it to a secure metal case. The man had short brown hair and an average stature. Nothing was distinct about his features. But something about him made Sean cringe. He couldn't help but shiver whenever the man spoke.

"I told you he couldn't do it!" another voice said angrily.

"I have faith in him. Give him some time." The smooth voice said.

"Take him back to the furnaces." The brown-haired man commanded

Sean was lifted and drug off to into darkness.

Sean bolted up from his bed, sweating profusely. He paused for a moment, trying to contemplate what he had just dreamt. It seemed so different, like a dream, but creepily vivid. He shook away the dream and turned to the clock. It was early in the morning, too early to be up. Sean sat up and rubbed his eyes into focus. He mustered up the energy and walked to his computer. One new message appeared, from Kate. Sean smiled and opened it. It read:

_Great to hear back from you. I would like to talk to you sometime in the next weeks. Please keep me up to date if you're on the Citadel._

_ Kate_

Sean sighed as memories flooded back to him, ones he had tried to keep pushed down for so long. He wiped away a tear forming in his eye and stood up. He quickly pulled on shorts, a tee shirt, and a jacket. He pulled out a small slip of paper and jotted down a note about the meeting. Slipping it into his jacket pocket, he made his way out. He opened the door and meandered through the engineering deck. He was surprised how quiet the ship was. He walked into the core of the ship and rested his arms over the rails, staring into the fluctuating core. For some reason it's quite humming and arching energy seemed to calm his mind. He breathed out slowly, letting all his worry leave him.

"I didn't expect to see you up so late." Tali said, causing Sean to jump. "Oh I'm sorry." She quickly said.

"Don't be. You just caught me off guard that's all." Sean said embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. "So what are you doing up so late?" Sean asked turning to Tali.

"I'm always up late working on the engines." Tali said walking to the side of Sean. She rested her hands on the bar and turned towards him. "What are you up to?"

Sighing Sean said, "I couldn't sleep. I guess I'm just new to the whole spaceship thing."

"Yea I was like that once. But where I came from silence was a bad sign. It usually meant something went wrong. But now I kind of enjoy the silence."

"I see what you mean, I mean it is quite peaceful."

There was a long silence. Tali finally said, "I think I need to clean the engines."

Awkwardly clearing his throat Sean added, "Yea, sorry about dragging you away."

"Don't worry. It was nice." Tali said smiling under her mask.

"Thanks." Sean said smiling. He pushed himself up and walked into the elevator, taking it up to the Crew Quarters level. Sean leaned back against the cold, steely wall and sighed. He was homesick. Well about as homesick a vigilante can be. It was hard leaving his past. He tried to hide it with his carefree exterior, but deep down it hurt him more than he'd care to admit. He nervously popped his knuckles and stepped out of the elevator. He scanned the empty hall and took a seat at one of the empty tables, resting his head in his hands. He heard a swoosh from the forward gun door opening and turned to see who it was. Sean smiled to himself. He knew the only person inside the forward guns was Garrus. Obviously the commander had enough feelings for him to talk to him this late. Shepard stepped out and blushed when she saw Sean.

"Maim." He said, giving a curt nod.

"What are you doing up so late?" She asked walking over to him.

"Couldn't sleep. Apparently no one does here." Sean said smiling. "So what have you been up to?"

"Not much. How have you been, you know, adjusting to the ship?" Shepard asked, leaning on the table.

"I'd be lying if I said well." Sean said. "It's just so different, you know? But don't worry it won't affect me."

"That's good to hear."

"So, where are we headed? If you don't mind me asking."

"Right now, nowhere. I'm waiting to hear from my employer. Why do you ask?" Shepard asked, redirecting the question.

"Oh nothing." Sean said claming up.

"Come on." Shepard pried.

"Just some personal business. I mean if it can fit to your schedule." Sean said cautiously.

"I try to keep my entire crew happy. Where is it?" Shepard said smiling.

"Well, um… The Citadel." Sean stammered out.

"I'll look into it." Shepard cheerfully replied. "Until then, get some rest. You look like you need it."

"Alright thanks Commander." Sean said standing up.

Sean slowly made his way back down to engineering. He peaked in and saw Tali asleep at her consol. He smiled to himself as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, as a gesture of good faith. Tali shifted and pulled the jacket closer to her chin. Sean couldn't help but laugh quietly. He didn't know, there was something about Tali; something that made him act different. He liked the feeling, something about Tali reminded Sean of Kate. He guessed it was his way of coping.

_You miss her. _His mind stated.

_Yea I do a lot. _Sean replied

_Do you really think Tali will help right now?_

_ Truthfully I don't know. Something about her makes me feel different, like Kate._

_ You're the boss. You just need to know that she may not be into you as much as you are in her_

_ You're right._

_ Of course I'm right! I'm your mind!_

Sean smiled as he exited the core room and made his way back to his room. The doors slowly opened and the lights dimmed. He walked to his room, jumping onto his computer and quickly typed out a reply to Kate. After he was finished he made his way back to his cot, lay down and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note: Just threw some new characteristics into Sean. Let me know what you think about it.**

**Well here's the second-to-last of the daily updates. Hope you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Well here's chapter 7, a little late… Anyway currently working on chapter 8.**

Chapter 7

"Shepard can I speak to you?" Tali asked, voice quick, as Shepard entered the engineering deck.

"Sure. What seems to be wrong?" Shepard asked taking a position next to Tali.

"I don't think we can trust Sean." Tali said as she began to nervously wringing her hands together.

"Why?" Shepard said stunned by the accusation.

"I think he has something planned, something bad." Tali said.

"What makes you think that?" Shepard asked.

"Well I found a slip of paper in his jacket. It had a location and time written on it."

"It's just probably a reminder. Don't jump to conclusions." Shepard interjected

"No, wait! I checked his computer and he had multiple encrypted messages. I managed to decipher one and it was a contract!"

"What kind of contract?"

"I don't know most of it was a jumbled mess, but the words I could make out made it seem like it was set on the Citadel."

"The Citadel?" Shepard said, shocked.

"Yes, why?" Tali asked confused.

"Sean asked me to go to the Citadel, for a 'personal thing'." Shepard said

"See! We can't trust him!" Tali said throwing her hands up in triumph.

"Don't go there yet." Shepard warned. "I want you to tail him when we land. I need to know what he's up to."

"But." Tali protested. Giving in, she said, "Alright Shepard."

"We land in three hours. I'll check in with him." Shepard said walking away.

"Be careful." Tali warned.

Sean sat behind the crate, tweaking his weapons. He did that when he was nervous and as the time counted down until they landed on the Citadel, he was plenty nervous. He looked up as he heard the doors open.

"How's it going Shepard?" Sean greeted cheerfully as Shepard entered his quarters.

"Not bad. Just came in to tell you it'll be three hours until we touchdown on the Citadel." Shepard said walking closer.

"Thanks." Sean said, breathing deeply to calm himself. He didn't want to appear weak in Shepard's eyes. He smiled as the butterflies in his stomach slowly faded. He placed the tools down on the crate and tipped his chair back.

"Mind if I ask what you're doing on the Citadel?" Shepard prodded.

"Personal stuff. Don't worry, nothing sinister." Sean teased.

Shepard tensed, but quickly hid it as she leaned against the wall. "Got a minute to talk?"

Letting out a painful laugh, Sean said, "I have three hours."

"Alright, well tell me about yourself."

"It's hard to say. I don't remember much."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, leaning into the conversation.

"I don't remember my past."

Tilting her head sideways, Shepard asked, "So basically you are saying you had amnesia."

"Basically." Sean said rocking back and forth on his chair.

"Why didn't you go see a doctor? There are many that specialize in that field and could have you fixed up within a week."

"That's the problem. I went to see multiple of those doctors. They couldn't help me. They all said I had suffered a powerful electrical shock to that part of my brain." Lightly chuckling, Sean added, "I guess I'm lucky it didn't fry something important." Shepard stood silently, slowly taking in the story. "My only problem is that I could have been anything before my amnesia. I could have been a ruthless criminal. I could have been someone that people depended on. I just want some closure." Sean said, looking down into his lap. He sighed as he massaged his forehead with his hands.

"Do you remember your name?" Shepard asked, trying to help Sean cope.

"No. I remember nothing. Sean was just a name I was given." Sean said, his voice growing frustrated.

Shepard laid a comforting hand on Sean's shoulder, "You've made the right choices."

"Thanks Commander. I'd like some time to think." Sean said, brushing her hand off.

"Alright. I'll leave you alone." She said stepping back.

"Alright. Thanks for stopping by." Sean said looking up.

Shepard slowly walked out, watching Sean.

* * *

><p>The air lock hissed open as Shepard, Garrus, Tali, and Sean stepped out. Sean paused and marveled at the Citadel. He couldn't believe that an entire city was built on it. It was a marvel. He couldn't wait to see Kate again.<p>

"Alright! Well I'll see you guys later." Sean said waiving as he walked away from the docks.

As Sean turned his back to them Tali quickly glanced at Shepard. Shepard nodded and Tali began to follow Sean. Tali was equipped with her shotgun and pistol, just incase the worst would happen. She couldn't help but wonder where Sean was going. She tentatively followed him.

As Sean drew nearer to his destination, Tali couldn't help but notice how comfortable his figure seemed. He was oddly calm, almost like he didn't expect anything to go wrong, much less have someone follow him.

Sean entered a small bar, Tali did so quickly behind him. Tali took position in a corner as Sean neared a table where a black haired woman sat. The woman stood up and gave Sean a long hug before offering him a seat.

Tali was puzzled by their reactions. That wasn't how most contracts started off. She sat there and watched quietly.

As the conversation progressed, Tali became worried. Something was very different about this meeting. Sean's movements became angry and very erratic. Curious, she moved closer into hearing distance.

"… you can't assume that!" Sean said

"But it sounds like you haven't changed." The woman accused, showing no expression.

"Changed. My life was destroyed! Everything is different about me!"

"But how do you know if you're safe if you don't remember anything about your past?"

"What do you want?" Sean said frustrated, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I don't know."

"Don't know! It's been a month, you must know something!"

"It's just too different. Everything has changed."

"I can change." Sean offered, desperate.

"That's not what I want to hear." The woman sighed. "I'm just too confused."

"Please don't end this like before." Sean begged.

"Just give me some time to think about it!" The woman cried. She then stood up and walked away, leaving Sean alone at the table.

Sean sat still for a while, rubbing his temples. Tali couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Tali felt horrible assuming that Sean was up to no good when he was trying to rekindle a ruined friendship. She buried her face into her hands. She knew how it felt to be left unwillingly. Memories of Shepard's death entered her mind as she relived that day onboard the first Normandy. Tali wanted to say something to Sean, to comfort him. She couldn't risk him discovering that she had been listening in on his personal conversation.

Sean then angrily stood up, throwing his glass to the ground and stomping out of the bar. Tali tentatively followed him. As Sean rounded the corner, he began to speed up his pace, causing Tali to break into a run. As Tali rounded the corner she had lost sight of Sean. He began to hurriedly sprint through the streets, desperate for answers.

Suddenly a hand pulled her into an alleyway. The attacker pulled her into a headlock and pressed a knife, pressing it against her throat.

"What do you want with me?" a familiar voice growled.

"Sean! It's me, Tali." She said struggling desperately.

"Tali?" Sean said, quickly releasing her. "I'm so sorry! I thought someone was following me. I guess I'm just paranoid." Sean said sheepishly laughing.

"You scarred me there!" Tali admitted turning to face Sean.

"Did you see anyone following me?" Sean asked.

"N- No." Tali lied.

"Oh. Well sorry about that anyway." Sean said. Sean paused for what felt to be minutes. "I'm just having a rough day." He admitted. He looked spent. The conversation looked like it took a lot out of him.

_That conversation must hurt him deeply _Tali thought. "Is there anything I can do?" Tali offered.

Giving a faint smile, Sean said, "I really don't know, but thanks for asking."

"You want to talk about it?" Tali asked

Sean sighed as he slowly slumped to the floor, mentally exhausted. "I think I just need some time."

"I understand."

"You headed back to the Normandy?" Sean asked standing up.

"Yes." Tali said quietly.

"You mind if I walk with you?" Sean said.

"Not at all." Tali said. Their walk back was silent, as both of them were in deep thought.

As the pair entered the airlock of the Normandy, Sean spoke up. "Thanks Tali. It's good to know that there is someone on this ship I can rely on."

Tali bit her tongue until Sean walked away. She couldn't tell Sean that she had been the one following him, but now he was making her feel guilty. She sighed as she slowly made her way to Shepard, who was standing in front of the Galactic map.

"Good to see you again Tali." Shepard greeted. Sensing something was wrong with Tali, she walked up to Tali and lowered her voice, "What did you find out?"

"I was wrong." Tali said sheepishly.

"Tell me about it." Shepard said.

"He was meeting up with an old friend. He was trying to amend broken bonds." Tali said staring down at the ground, empathy taking hold of her.

"Well that's good to know. Did anything go wrong?" Shepard asked, putting a friendly hand on Tali's shoulder.

"No. Everything went fine." Tali said looking up. "How'd your mission go?"

"Perfectly, we have a new recruit. Kasumi Goto." Shepard said smiling. "Fair warning, you won't have anymore secrets with here onboard."

"I might be able to use that to my advantage." Tali teased, feeling better. They both laughed as the tension dissolved. "Alright. I think I need to return to the engines." Tali said walking away. "Thanks for talking to me."

"Anytime Tali." Shepard said smiling and returning her attention back to the map.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: First off, I apologize for how short this chapter is. **

**Now… As we near the heart of the story, the harder I have to work. I love how well this story is going. Everything seems to be forming perfectly. So anyway, Now that I don't have any more chapters in storage I'll be writing them on a day-to-day basis. Expect an update… every week or so.**

** Anyway… keep being awesome!**

Chapter 8

Sean fiddled around on the extranet, coping with his boredom. He hadn't really been assigned a job yet on the ship, so the times between shore leaves were tedious.

His computer let out a beep as a message popped up on his screen. Sean quickly opened it. He saw it was from Kate and his heart plummeted once again. Feeling discouraged he turned away from the computer and flopped back down on his cot.

"Mr. Mason?" An electronic voice chimed as EDI appeared on a pedestal by the door.

"Yea?" Sean grumbled as he looked up from his cot.

"Mr. Taylor would like to speak with you in the armory. He asks you bring your weapons." EDI said.

"Alright. I'll head up there." Sean said slowly sitting up.

Jacob was quietly working on his terminal as Sean entered.

"You called?" Sean asked as he stepped into the armory.

"Yes." Jacob said sternly, slowly turning around, "I need to update your weapons."

"Wait what?" Sean said taken back.

"I need to update your weapons. Shepard found some useful upgrades. Her orders. All of our guns get updated." Jacob said.

"Wow, I guess an order's an order." Sean said removing the Mattock from his back.

"And your pistol." Jacob said pointing to Sean's holster.

"You're not touching this." Sean said placing his hand on the butt of the gun. "No one, but me, touches this."

"Fine." Jacob said taking the Mattock and placing it on one of the tables. The tensions began to rise in the room as Sean closely watched Jacob work on the Mattock.

Ten long minutes later, Jacob finished the updates to the rifle and returned it to Sean.

"There." Jacob harshly said before returning to his terminal.

"Thanks." Sean sarcastically said back. Sean examined the rifle himself before folding it up onto his back.

Sean returned to his room and gingerly placed his weapons back in their respective spots. He looked over to his computer and stared at the flickering warning of a new message. He tried to force himself to look away, but curiosity got the better of him. He quickly found his seat and opened up the mail.

Dear Sean,

I need to talk again. Just, try to listen to me. I have something important to tell you.

Kate

Sean paused after reading the message. It was extremely cryptic and he couldn't manage to put the words together. Another message appeared on his screen, pulling Sean away from the topic. Sean opened up the message and read it.

Dear Mr. Mason

This is Katherine's neighbor. Last night she came to see me about something she said was 'extremely important'. She said she didn't have much longer and she asked me to contact you warn you.

I have no idea what this means, but I have brought C Sec in on this because I believe her life is in danger.

Please contact me.

Jennifer H.

_What the hell? _Sean thought. Almost like the extranet read his mind a call appeared on his screen. Sean opened it and a turian appeared on the screen.

"Mr. Mason?" he asked

"Y- yes." Sean said deeply confused by the messages.

"I am Detective Trank of C Sec, I currently at the apartment of one, Katherine Bakers. She has listed you as a emergency contact." He said sternly.

"What's going on?" Sean said, his heart leaping up and into his throat.

"Sir you need to calm down." Trank snapped.

"Calm down! What's wrong with Kate?" Sean cried, unable to hold his emotions back.

Giving up, Trank said sighing, "It appears your friend has been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped! Good God! How?"

"We are currently unsure. But Mr. Mason we need you to return to the Citadel as soon as you can. We have no leads and we believe you can help us in this investigation."

"Yes, yes I'll head straight over!" Sean said. "Thank you Detective." Sean quickly killed the comm. Link and rushed up to the captain's quarters.

Shepard had just left a long conversation with Garrus and planned to grab a few hours of rest as the Normandy was plotted for Illium. She wearily entered the elevator and keyed in floor one, captain's quarters.

Shepard took a long stretch then flopped down onto her comfortable bed. She closed her eyes, slowly relaxing.

"Commander!" Sean said barging in through the doors.

"Hmm? Wha-" Shepard stuttered as she looked up.

"We need to go back to the Citadel!" Sean ordered.

Groggily sitting up Shepard asked, "And why would I do that?"

"Kate. I. Gone." Sean sputtered trying to search for the proper words.

"Calm down." Shepard said standing up and helping Sean onto the couch. "Take an deep breath and tell me what's wrong."

Sean paused and breathed, trying desperately to calm himself. "I just got a message from a detective on the Citadel. He, he says Kate's been kidnapped."

"Who's Kate?" Shepard asked.

"Kate's my best friend. That's, that's who I met up with on the Citadel. I need you to head back there. Her life might be in danger!" Sean said.

"EDI." Shepard commanded.

"Yes Commander?" EDI said appearing.

"Tell Joker to set a new course back to the Citadel."

"Yes Commander. At once." EDI said disappearing.

She turned back to Sean and said, "We'll get to the bottom of this as soon as we get back. Alright?"

"Yes. Yes, thank you." Sean said hopping up and giving Shepard a hug. Shepard jumped as Sean hugged her but relaxed. "You don't know how much this means to me." Sean said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Alright. Just try to get some rest. We'll be there in a while." Shepard said peeling herself away from Sean.

Sean slowly exited the cabin and headed back to his room, his head buzzing with questions.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Guess what! I have another chapter! Ooh, what will happen?**

Chapter 9

"Alright. Back on the Citadel." Joker announced as the final clamps anchored the Normandy. Shepard appeared on the CIC deck along with Tali and Sean. "Hey do you mind if I give you guys a shopping list?" Joker teased as they trio entered the airlock.

Sean groggily stepped out of the Normandy's airlock, back onto the Citadel. His stomach was empty and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Did you manage to get any sleep?" Tali asked, worried.

"I couldn't." Sean quickly replied as he hurriedly walked ahead.

"I'm concerned about Sean." Tali said leaning in to Shepard.

"He's just worried about his friend. He'll relax once we find out more about the kidnapping." Shepard replied calmly, walking behind Sean.

Tali paused then quickly ran to catch up with the group.

Sean took a deep breath as he stepped onto the crime scene. He was still tense and his heart hammered against his chest.

"Alright, Glad you could make it." Detective Trank said stepping through the holographic caution signs. "Who are these other people?" he said eyeing Shepard and Tali.

"Friends." Sean said, focusing at the moment at hand.

"Commander Shepard." Shepard introduced herself, offering her hand.

"Shepard?" Trank said confused. "I had no idea we had a Spectre on this case. Damn this got big."

"I'm just here with him." Shepard said pointing to Sean, who was entering the house.

"Damn it! Mr. Mason, please get back here!" Trank said running off behind Sean.

Sean paused as he entered Kate's apartment. It was a mess. He slowly entered the room, trying to keep his emotions bottled up. It was obvious that Kate didn't go down quietly. Chairs were knocked over, books were scattered about the room. There was a clear sign of a struggle. Kate wasn't caught off her guard, she expected this to happen, and she was ready for someone to go after her. The rug at the entrance of the apartment was crumpled and thrown to the wall. That's where the scuffle began.

Running up to Sean, Trank said, "Sir, I need you to-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to touch anything." Sean shot back at the detective. He continued to meander through the apartment as Shepard and Tali entered. Sean spotted a yellow marker placed on the carpet and made his way towards it. The marker was placed next to a dried bloodstain. "Whose is this?" Sean asked pointing.

"Miss. Baker's blood." Trank responded.

"Shit." Sean mumbled to himself as he fell to his knees before the stain. "Do we know if she's still alive?"

"That's not nearly enough blood to kill her. She's most likely been taken somewhere. We need to find the motive. That's why I called you here." Trank said trying to coax Sean into talking.

_There's got to be something here! _He thought as he continued to search the room desperately.

_Just stop and think. _His mind said to him.

_ Something. A warning? A note?_

_ Well where did Kate relax?_

_ Usually at her terminal. _Sean paused at the last word. He looked up and began to open all the drawers in Kate's desk.

"Hey! Stop that!" Trank shouted

Sean didn't. He needed something to work from. Anything. His heart sank, as the final drawer he opened was empty. He slumped to the ground, defeated.

_You forgot something, _his mind teased.

_What? I searched everywhere_

_ Everywhere?_

_ Everywhere!_

_ Would Kate give up on you?_

_ It's not the same!_

_ Oh is it?_

_ Fine then! Where would you look?_

_ I'd start in the bedroom. Maybe she was packing up to leave._

Sean stood up and made his way to the bedroom. There sat a duffel bag in the corner, the Jackpot. He walked over and lifted it onto the bed and unzipped it. Inside was a small wooden box. He stopped and stared at it. Could this be her? Could this lead to her? Or would it be a dead end? He opened the box to reveal an omni-pad and an old 2000 model revolver. Sean froze.

_How?_ The word echoed through his mind as his dream arose. He had held the weapon. Everything felt similar. The weight, the old cuts and notches in the grip. His dream was breaking into reality. He removed both items and placed them on the bed, side by side. Something was definitely wrong. Trank found his way to Sean's side and stood, gawking at the revolver.

Sean tentatively opened the only file on the omni-pad. Numbers began to scroll across the screen, coordinates. Sean waved Shepard over. Shepard stepped to Sean's other side and glanced over at the numbers.

Quickly Shepard said, "I'm taking this case."

"You can't do that!" Trank protested.

"Can't do that? I'm a Spectre. Do you really want to put this up against the Counsel?" Shepard responded.

Trank let out a sigh and stepped back. Shepard pulled out a small drive and downloaded the coordinates. "We'll find her and get her back." Shepard said comfortingly.

After she removed the drive another file popped up on the screen. Both of them leaned in to read the new message.

It simply read, "Come home my little, lost lamb."

The cab ride back to the Normandy was quiet. Shepard wanted to ask questions, but decided against it. She simply glanced back at the pair sitting in the back seat. Tali looked up and gave a quiet nod in Sean's direction, then returned to staring out the window. Shepard turned to see how Sean was doing. Sean sat quietly in his sleep. Shepard smiled, he was at peace, at the moment. She returned to looking out the front window. It was a good thing Sean was able to rest. He had been through a lot in the past day.

As the cab landed Shepard gently shook Sean's shoulder, waking him. He woke with a snort and quickly glanced around. Remembering where he was, he slowly lifted himself from the seat, groaning.

As they boarded the Normandy, Shepard made her way to the cockpit, closely followed by Sean. "EDI. I need you to find where these coordinates point to."

"At once Commander." EDI said as she began to scan the documents. "These coordinates point to a warehouse on Illium."

"Illium?" Sean spoke up.

"Yes, Mr. Mason, the warehouse is located almost in the heart of the city." EDI responded.

Sean looked over to Shepard who nodded, "Joker, get us the fastest route to Illium."

"Aye, aye Commander." Joker responded as he punched it into his terminal.

"Sean, go get some rest." Shepard said, "You need it."

Sean began to protest, but stopped and walked off silently to his room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: This is by far the longest chapter I have written so far and, man, this chapter took me forever to write. I had finished it a while back but I kept reviewing, adding, and removing parts. I hope it was worth it…**

Chapter 10

Sean was once again staring down at the revolver. It was the same scenario as before, one bullet, but this time there were four prisoners. All of them were bounded, blinded, and gagged. One was a salarian, one was a turian, one was a batarian, and the last one was a human. Sean lifted the revolver, confused. It was all the same, but everything felt different. He wasn't shaking like he had before. He stood perfectly still, completely relaxed. He wondered if this was another test.

"He can't do it," a voice said, "it'll be like before."

"Give him a chance." The smooth voice responded.

Anger began to well inside Sean as looked down the sights of the revolver. He pulled the hammer on the revolver back and aimed it. Sean slowly let out his breath and pulled the trigger. All four of the prisoners jumped at the sound, only one was hit. The turian shook as the bullet passed through his scull. The wall behind him instantly was painted blue from its blood. It slumped forward as blood began to drip at a constant rate from the bullet hole in its head. A slow clap was heard.

The brown-haired man walked in front of him, smiling. "It worked." He said slowly. He turned to a batarian beside him.

The batarian adjusted his clothes and grinned as well. "Looks like all those tests paid off. He had four choices, and he chose correctly."

"Time to get you into the business." The brown-haired man said slapping Sean on the shoulder.

Sean's eyes fluttered open. He turned to look at the clock positioned on his nightstand. It was way too early to get up. Sean turned onto his back and stared up to the ceiling, wondering about his dream. His nights had become restless since he discovered Kate had been kidnapped. He always woke up tired. Each day seemed like a chore. He wanted to talk to someone about it, but he knew no one could relate to him. He felt alone. It felt like Kate was holding him down to the world. As she grew distant from him, his own grip began to fade. He let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes once again and drifted off to sleep.

"You've become compromised." A voice said, "we don't need your services anymore." Sean's fuzzy eyes adjusted to a pistol in his face. He desperately began to struggle, but his body parts refused to move. The man then disappeared as two doctors appeared.

"Not himself. Must be some control. Need to investigate." The salarian doctor said. His eyes flashing as a bright light intensified above his head. "Need to dissect." The light slowly became blinding. Sean's body became numb. A searing pain caused Sean to yell as his body began to spasm.

"You can't leave, you can never leave!" a man yelled. A man behind Sean threw Sean's face into a bucket of water. Sean tried to fight off the man, but it was useless. He could hear his heartbeat slow. It became slower, fainter, and weaker.

Sean's eyes snapped open as he instinctively drew his knife.

"Keelah!" Tali cried jumping back.

Sean jumped at his unexpected visitor. "What, what are you doing there?" Sean stammered.

"Are you alright? I heard you yelling from the engine room." Tali said, she slowly reached forward and pushed Sean's hand down.

Relaxing Sean sheathed the knife and put it under his pillow. "Yea, I'm fine. Just a bad dream." He lied.

"Really?" Tali said, crossing her arms over her chest. "It sounded pretty bad from here."

"Yea it just scared me." Sean paused, "I'm just worried." Sean sat up and brushed the wrinkles out of his shirt.

"You want to talk about it?" Tali offered, talking a seat.

"You're starting to sound like Shepard." Sean chuckled painfully, trying to let out some of the pain he was experiencing. "I'm worried about Kate." Sean confessed. He began to pace around the room.

"Just try to relax." Tali said, "We'll find her."

"I know." Sean said, still pacing. "EDI how much longer until we reach Illium?"

"Two more hours Mr. Mason." The speakers in the room announced.

"Thanks." Sean said as he made his way back to his bed. He then removed the revolver from off his desk and stared at it. "I saw this in my dream." Sean said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Tali said, caught off guard.

"I was holding this weapon, this exact one. It even has the same scratches." Sean let out a long sigh, "I killed someone with this." Letting it fall onto his lap, Sean buried his face in his hands.

"Sean, it was just a dream." Tali said, trying to console him.

"He was innocent. I told myself I wouldn't kill someone innocent." Sean mumbled into his hands.

"But you said it was a dream." Tali said.

"But everything felt so real, the weight, the kick, everything. How would I know that if I never touched this before? It happened." Sean protested.

"Sean you're a good person." Tali said taking a seat next to Sean. "Don't let anything tell you you're not."

Sean's heart fluttered. He didn't know how to react. He was at complete loss of words. He just simply picked up the gun and placed it in Tali's hand. Sean's fingers lingered as they brushed against Tali's, but he quickly pulled away.

"I guess I just want to know. To not wonder about who I was before all this." Sean admitted, nervously massaging his hands. The room grew quiet as the pair looked in opposite directions, hiding their emotions.

"Tali, Sean, and Garrus. Report to the briefing room." Shepard's voice crackled over the ship's speaker system.

"I guess we should head up there." Tali suggested.

"Yea, lets." Sean said standing up.

The pair entered the elevator and took it up to the CIC. As it reached the Crew Deck the doors parted and Garrus entered. Sean nodded a greeting to Garrus. He responded in kind.

"You look tired." Garrus teased.

"Yea, Shepard woke me up." Sean lied.

Garrus chuckled, "Right."

Sean looked down, shaking his head. Now was not the time for jokes. The three of them exited the elevator and made their way to the briefing room.

"Shepard." Sean and Garrus said taking their places around the table.

"Alright." Shepard began. A holographic image of a base appeared. "This is where we're headed. Are you ready Sean?"

Sean nodded, leaning in.

* * *

><p>Shepard was surprised. What looked like a dilapidated warehouse from the outside was a full-blown high tech laboratory inside. The walls were a crisp white and shone like they were polished. The lights flashed against the ground as they ran through the laboratory. Shepard gave a quick signal for the group to stop. They did so and plastered themselves against the wall.<p>

"Were almost there." She whispered as they all crouched and made their way. She halted and quickly returned to her cover. "Tango to two o'clock." She warned.

"I got this." Sean said as he stood up and walked towards the guard. Tali and Shepard peered out from their cover and watched as Sean coolly walked up to the unaware guard.

"What are you do-" was all the guard got to say before Sean plunged his knife upwards into the guard's scull. The guard gurgled as blood began to flow from the new hole in his armor, then fell to the ground lifeless. Sean just kept walking.

"Something feels weird." Tali noted as Shepard and her caught up with Sean

"Why are there so little guards?" Shepard asked. "Garrus check in. Anything outside?"

"Nothing to see here Commander." Garrus' voice crackled back over their headsets.

They made their way into a large auditorium. Three rows of seats sat in front of a one-way window, giving them a clear view into an operating room. Sean paused in front of the glass, looking into the other room.

"There she is." Sean said. In the operating Kate sat, bound to a chair. Torture equipment sat in front of her, bloody. "We need to get down there now!" Sean said making his way to the opposite door.

"Wait!" Shepard commanded.

"For what? She needs to be rescued." Sean said, but stopping at the door.

"Tali's right. Something's feels wrong." Shepard said scanning around the operating room.

"I see you're comfortable." A voice said over the built-in speaker in the viewing room. The three jumped as they drew their weapons.

"No, you don't need to stand for me." The voice said. The brown-haired man stepped forward in the operating room. Shepard and Tali relaxed, Sean tensed every muscle in his body.

"Welcome home." He said spreading his arms.

"Home?" Sean asked, turning to the window.

"You're boy's coming for you." The man teased Kate.

"He's different now. He's not your pawn." Kate hissed back. She arched her back as a powerful jolt of electricity arced through her body. She leaned forwards in her restraints, breathing heavily.

"We'll see soon enough. See how well you fixed him." The man said, pulling a revolver from a nearby table. "So doctor, tell me how's our little patient doing?"

"I shouldn't have done this." Kate mumbled to herself.

"Ah, but you did." The man replied, smirking, "and look at the soldier you created!"

"I didn't make him that." Kate said.

"You keep telling yourself that. Remember, you were the one to place the chip in his head. All I did was program it and form him into a soldier."

"He was already a soldier. He served the Alliance, before you shot down his ship!"

"Tsk, tsk. So the doctor's got a heart now." The man teased stepping around her. "Ground, do you report?" the man said pressing a finger up to his ear. A small smile slowly spread across his face. "Looks like your boy arrived. I wonder how many of my men he'll kill." The man lifted his revolver and loaded two shots into it. "Shame you won't be around to see how much better he's gotten." He pointed the gun at Kate.

"Sean, get-" Shepard began, turning. Sean was gone. "Shit!"

Shepard and Tali sprinted down the stairs.

"Kate!" Sean shouted, his powerful voice echoing through the entire room.

A gunshot rang out, causing both Tali and Shepard to stumble. Shepard punched the door command, the door quickly opened to reveal Sean kneeling over the bleeding form of Kate, the brown-haired man lying on the ground, his nose split open. Shepard ran over to the man,

"I'm sorry Kate." Sean said

"Don't be. I brought you back to this. I'm sorry." Kate said, coughing up blood.

"Don't die on me Kate. We can get you fixed up." Sean said, his voice cracking.

"I was a monster." Kate said, "You didn't deserve this."

"No, don't say that. You didn't do anything wrong." Sean protested.

"I made you this, you didn't deserve this." Kate said weakly.

"No, I chose this life, I became this." Sean said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"You didn't have a choice, you were taught, programmed to."

"No! You had nothing to do with it! I became this monster!" Sean said desperately.

"Sean," Kate said, her life fading fast. "You were always a good person. Don't believe anything else."

A quivering smile appeared on Sean's face as tears came down from his eyes. He tightly hugged Kate's form. He refused to believe that someone as helpful as Kate would do such a thing. She was good, pure. She didn't deserve to be the one dying. It should be him in this position. He gently let Kate down as she breathed her last breath. He slowly shut her eyelids and gradually stood up. Sean's head hung low as he stood up, lost in the moment.

Tali's heart wrenched. It was hard to look at someone as composed as Sean in this position. She couldn't help but choke back a few tears as she made her way closer to Sean.

The brown-haired man sat up, coughing up some of his own blood, "I know why you came here." He taunted, "You want to know, you wanted to fill in the blanks. I can tell you it all."

Sean looked at the man, "Why couldn't you just leave me?"

"You worked with us for three years, you can never leave." The man said smiling, blood seeping into his mouth. "Face it Alex, you're a killer."

"Alex?" Sean said, his eyes growing wide.

"Starting to remember, Alex? You were a master with this gun, show me your skills again." The brown-haired man said, producing two old bullets from his jacket pocket, tossing them to Sean.

Sean easily caught both bullets. He rolled them in his hands, feeling the smooth brass surface of the shell. He reached to the ground and lifted the revolver into his hand. He removed the spent shell and loaded in the two live rounds.

"Sean don't let him get into your head." Shepard warned, her voice calm and unwavering.

"Do it." The man said, his icy voice returning, causing Sean to shiver, "Show me what you have become." Sean lifted the gun, spinning the cylinder. He waited until the rhythmic clicking stopped. It was his choice, no one else's.

"Sean…" Tali said, "You're better than this."

Sean stopped. So much was fighting inside of him. The thirst for vengeance against the morals he had taught himself. This man wasn't innocent, he deserved to die, but would killing bring him peace? _You know what he did. Kill him! _A voice hissed in Sean's head. Sean slowly raised the revolver, aiming at the brown-haired man's head.

"Do it!" He yelled.

Sean squeezed the trigger. Shepard was too fast for Sean to react. She stepped in and smacked Sean's hand into the air, causing the bullet to fly off course.

"Sean, you're not a murderer, don't make yourself turn into one." Shepard said.

"You're right," Sean said, breathing out a heavy sigh, "I'm not a murderer. Shepard, take this. I don't want to be tempted again." Sean said handing over the revolver, his hand shaking. He slowly placed a quivering hand on Tali's shoulder, trying to steady himself.

"You're pathetic." The man hissed. He began to stand up.

An uncontrollable rage began to boil up in Sean's veins as he turned to the brown-haired man.

Repressed memories, painful memories, everything seemed to be pointing toward to this man. Tears began to run down his face as he fought to keep his emotions in control. _He killed Kate. Make him suffer!_ His mind yelled at him. Giving in, Sean lunged forward and began pounding on the man's body screaming, "You bastard!" Tali quickly pulled Sean away. "I'm-" Sean stammered. Tali hugged him tightly. Sean hugged her back, letting his emotions loose, crying. He had lost too much.

* * *

><p>Hours later<p>

The Alliance soldiers were scattered about the warehouse. Shepard was busy explaining exactly what happened inside to one of the officers. Sean stood outside, Tali by his side. He sighed painfully, letting out his emotions slowly. He felt so vulnerable, so alone. Tali gave him a quick hug, which he returned. He smiled. He needed a friend, and Tali was perfect. Tali's presence, and helpfulness really helped remind him that he wasn't alone.

His attention was drawn to the doors as angry yells emanated from behind them. Two guards appeared, dragging behind them the brown-haired man.

"I can tell you everything! No more mystery!" the brown-haired man yelled to Sean.

"I'm happy with this life." Sean said back.

"Damn it! You know you want to know! You can't leave me here! I created what you are!"

Sean winced as he tried to force the sudden surge of emotions down.

Shepard turned and saw Sean's reaction. "Shut him up." Shepard said to the Illium police officer. The officer nodded and shoved the man into the back of her cab. Shepard caught up to Sean. "You did the right thing." Shepard reassured Sean.

"My mind says that, but everything inside of me says I should have killed him." Sean said his head still hung low.

"You're a different person." Shepard said.

"Thanks for everything." Sean said. "It didn't end how I wanted, but it's over." Sean said, slowly turning towards Shepard

"It didn't end the way anyone would have wanted." Shepard said.

"We're going to find the man behind this all right?" Sean asked.

"In due time" Shepard said.

"Thank you Shepard. For picking me, for everything." Sean said extending his hand.

"Sean, you deserve everything I've given you."

"Can we put some distance to this place? I need to recover." Sean said.

"Right behind you." Shepard said entering the drop ship.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: a bit more exposition. Don't worry there will be more action soon.**

Chapter 11

"How are you doing?" Garrus asked taking a seat next to Sean in the mess hall.

Sean sighed. His heart still ached from Kate's death. He wasn't over it. He would never be over it. She didn't deserve it.

"Hey, don't be hard on yourself." Garrus said clapping a hand on Sean's shoulder.

"It takes time." Sean said, twirling his food with his fork.

"I understand. So how are you holding up?" Garrus said tearing at his food.

"Better, I guess." Sean said, uncertain. He felt so alone.

_You're not alone. _His mind replied.

_Kate's gone._

_ And she took a chunk of your heart with her. So are you going to let it hurt forever or let it heal?_

_ I have no one._

_ Are you crazy? You have Shepard and Garrus. Hell, you even have Tali. She feels for you._

_ How would I know?_

_Have you thought of talking to her? She managed to be there when you needed her the most. Think about it._

_You're right. _Sean thought, his mind and mood beginning to clear.

"You look better." Garrus said, giving a turian equivalent of a smile.

"Yea, I have you guys." Sean said patting Garrus on the back.

"If you just want to talk, feel free to swing by." Garrus replied.

"Thanks." Sean said entering the elevator. He had to thank someone else.

As the elevator doors opened he smiled. He casually walked into the engine room.

"Oh, hi Sean." Tali said, looking up from her station.

"Hey, Tali." He said, stumbling over his words. He blushed as he tried to remain calm.

"How are you doing?" She asked sheepishly.

"A lot better. Thanks for asking." Sean said slowly making his way to Tali's side. "Listen," he began, his head dropping, "I'm sorry you had to see that side of me. I-" Tali reached down and took hold oh Sean's hand, clasping it between both of hers.

"It wasn't you. I was what that man wanted you to be. You proved him that you were different, you were better."" She said, her voice calm.

"I had someone there to help me." Sean said smiling back, taking Tali's hand and squeezing it between both of his. There was a long pause as they both looked quietly into each other's eyes. Sean's heart fluttered as he saw the words sink in to Tali.

"I-" Tali said, as she pulled her hand away, "I just-"

"No I understand." Sean said, his heart plummeting. "I get it." Sean slowly walked out of the engineering.

"Sean…" Tali began, but it was too late. Sean was already gone and into his room, defeated.

Sean let the door shut as he flopped onto his cot.

_Why did I do that? _He asked himself.

_You had feelings for her, you still do. _His mind replied back.

_She obviously doesn't like me._

Something felt off in his room. Sean looked up and began to scan the room. He slowly stood up. Reaching for his concealed blade, hidden just below his belt line. He noticed a small flicker of light glancing off a cloaked surface. Someone was spying on him. He made his way over, but relaxed his posture hoping that would throw off the cloaked figure. He snapped his arm out and managed to get hold of the spy's throat. The person gasped in fear as they were lifted off the ground. The cloak melted away revealing a woman. She was wearing a tight black one-piece with a hood over her head, obscuring her face. She had a purple tattoo that stretched from her bottom lip to her mid-chin.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sean hissed, his hand slowly closing on her throat. She feebly tried to scratch at his hand, as an attempt to break free. "Speak!" He commanded.

"I'm Kasumi Goto. I serve on this ship." She said, air barely passing from her lips.

"Bull shit!" Sean said throwing her to the ground and drawing his pistol. "EDI get Shepard down here now!" Sean said. He turned his attention back to the spy, "What are you doing here?"

She lay on the ground, propped up by her elbow. "It's just what I do. This is how I get to know the people here." She said weakly, massaging her throat.

"What's going on here?" Shepard commanded, bursting into the room.

"Commander, this woman has been spying on us." Sean said, his eyes not leaving the spy.

"At ease Sean, there's no threat here." Shepard said relaxing.

"What?" Sean said, confused.

"I said at ease!" Shepard yelled.

Sean reluctantly lowered his pistol, "What is going on here, Commander?"

"She's a friendly, I recruited her back on the Citadel."

"She was spying on me! How am I supposed to trust her?" Sean asked.

"She's a thief. What do you expect? Now fix this." Shepard commanded, crossing her arms across her chest. Sean didn't move. Shepard glared at him until he turned and reluctantly offered his hand. Kasumi took it. "The last thing we need here are hostilities on this ship. Understand?" She said.

"Yes ma'am." Sean and Kasumi said.

"Good." Shepard said. She then stepped out of the room.

There was a quick silence that was broken by Sean. "What the hell were you doing in my room?" He asked again, anger still obvious in his voice.

"Like I said, it's how I get to know the people on this ship." Kasumi said.

"Everyone?" Sean said his curiosity piqued.

"Basically. I even saw your feeble flirt attempt." Kasumi teased. Sean tensed. He was going to have to be more careful now that Kasumi would be watching him. "Hey but don't feel too bad, she likes you too." Kasumi said.

"What do you mean?" Sean asked quickly.

"She talks about you a lot. She's constantly wondering how you're doing. Plus she always looks your way whenever you enter the room." Kasumi said.

"Really?" Sean said, stunned. "I'm an idiot." He mumbled burying his face in his hands.

"You just have to show her that you deeply care about her."

"What do you mean?"

"Shepard rescued Tali and saved the galaxy with Tali always at her side. If Shepard were male, Tali would be falling all over him."

"Well I need to work on that then." Sean said. "Thanks, and sorry for the bad first impression."

"We all get caught sometime. I'm just glad it was you and not a armed guard." Kasumi said stepping out of Sean's room and cloaking herself.

"Just don't let me find you snooping around in my room again." Sean warned. He sat down at his desk.

* * *

><p>Time went by and Sean relaxed. The pain of losing Kate still bit him. He wished he could talk to her one more time, to iron out the mistakes and words he had said. His heart began to ache. He needed to distract his thoughts, and basic maintenance on his weapons did that. Sean casually began to take apart his pistol and clean the individual parts.<p>

"Mr. Mason, Miss Lawson wishes to speak to you in her quarters." EDI said appearing before Sean.

"Alright." Sean said standing up. He slowly meandered to the Crew Deck. He took a deep breath as he reached Miranda's door. The door opened and Sean made his way in, standing before Miranda's desk.

Miranda casually looked up from her terminal, "Please take a seat." She said gesturing to a seat.

Sean sat down in the padded chair. "What's this about?" He asked, shifting in his seat.

"I need to test your mental health." Miranda said curtly.

"What?" Sean sputtered, astounded.

"You suffered a great loss, I need to see if you are still capable of performing properly." Miranda stated, pulling up a new document on her terminal.

Sean was appalled. How could Miranda attempt such a thing? He was still damaged, no one else on the ship dared to even speak of the event to Sean's face. "What? So you think I'm messed up?" Sean said, his voice rising.

"I wouldn't assume that. I just need to do a simple test." Miranda said, her face staying emotionless.

"Go to hell!" Sean yelled, angrily standing up. "I don't have to put up with this! Yes I lost someone important to my life, but that doesn't mean you can assume I need to be tested. Fuck you!" Sean yelled leaving the room. Sean ran into Garrus as he exited the door. Garrus stood wide-eyed and mouth agape.

"What happened in there?" Garrus asked, shocked to see Sean so angry.

"That soulless bitch" was all Sean could say before he stomped off back to his room.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Ok, now this is by far the shortest chapter I've written. I needed a bit more exposition before I made a huge leap. I unfortunately ran short on back stories to tell. So I will put up chapter 13 really soon (after I finish proofreading)**

Chapter 12

Tali worked silently at her terminal, listening to her coworkers banter back and forth about some human dish called "haggis". The engineering deck felt different. She hadn't seen Sean once since their last conversation. She understood why, he had expressed feelings for her and she pulled away. She just wasn't ready. Everything had been happening so fast. She didn't know how to react. When Sean lost Kate, Tali had been there to help him. It was obvious that Sean had developed feelings for Tali over the days, he had originally come to her for guidance, but it slowly evolved into something more. Tali had to admit, she had developed feelings as well. She liked Sean and she wanted to tell him that, she was just confused and nervous. She turned to see Shepard standing behind her.

"Oh, hello Shepard." She said.

"Got a moment to talk?" Shepard asked.

"Not right now. I need to clean up this engine." Tali lied.

"Alright." Shepard responded walking over to the other side of the engineering deck towards Sean's room.

Tali sighed and lost herself in her own thoughts.

* * *

><p>Sean tried to massage his headache away as he turned away from his computer. He heard a quiet tap on the door and turned.<p>

"How are you doing?" Shepard asked stepping inside.

"Oh, hello Commander. I'm doing alright, I guess." Sean replied.

"Have you got a moment?" Shepard asked.

"Actually I'm glad you stopped by." Sean said resting his elbows on the desk. "I just can't seem to get over what happened back at the warehouse. It's eating me up on the inside."

"You didn't have a choice." Shepard replied.

"I know, I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't seem to help." Sean said.

"I understand that losing her was hard for you. No one expects you to get over it quickly."

"It just felt like I lost everything stable that day. I'm grateful that I had you and Tali to help me. Thanks for being here Shepard." Sean said standing up.

"Any time." Shepard replied, "I should go." She said turning. Sean nodded as she left the room.

Sean sighed. It felt good talking to a friend, to let out his inner turmoil to someone willing to listen. Sean then exited his room and headed to the mess hall. He noticed the door to Kasumi's room was open. He looked at it quizzically. Kasumi didn't usually leave her door open; she preferred seclusion from the rest of the ship. Sean entered the room slowly.

"Kasumi?" Sean asked cautiously stepping forth. He scanned the room and spotted Kasumi kneeling by a grey painting, clutching a rose close to her chest. "Oh I'm sorry, you door was open and-" Sean said stumbling on his words. "I'll just leave." He finally stammered out.

"No don't." Kasumi said turning around, "I just needed someone to talk to, and Shepard has been acting distant…"

"That's really different." Sean admitted raising his eyebrow. He then took a seat on one of the stools by the bar on the far side of Kasumi's room. He mixed two drinks together and handed a cup to Kasumi, who accepted it and took a seat by Sean. "So what's wrong?" Sean asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm having trouble letting go." Kasumi said, producing a small greybox, "This is all I have to remember him by." She said weakly, letting her thumb run over its surface.

"So why can't you keep it?" Sean asked quizzically.

"It has incriminating evidence on it." Kasumi said.

"Did he mean a lot to you?" Sean asked nodding towards the greybox.

"Yes, this is all that is left of him." Kasumi said, her hand tightening around the greybox. "I have nothing else." She said, her voice getting choked up.

"No it isn't." Sean responded, "You have your memories of him. I know how hard it is to let go." Sean said, his gaze dropping, "I saw my best friend murdered in front of me. I still think about her. I still relive that moment."

Kasumi sighed and asked, "Does it still hurt you, your loss?"

"Every day. It almost destroyed me, but I'm letting it go. I stopped blaming myself, I stopped imagining what I could have done, and I stopped thinking about it. I want to remember Kate for who she was, not what happened to her." Sean said running his finger up and down his glass. Kasumi's head dropped. Sean laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I can't make you do anything. This decision is all up to you."

Kasumi slowly took the greybox and made her way to the holographic tool on the wall. She plugged the greybox and a holographic screen appeared across her eyes. A distinct look of sorrow spread across her face. Sean sat motionless.

"Goodbye, Kenji." She whispered as the holographic image disappeared from her face. She then walked over to the terminal and wiped the memory from the greybox. Sean made his way over and put a reassuring hand on her arm. He gave a small smile and looked her in the eyes. "Did you make the right choice?" He asked.

Sniffing she said, "It's what he would have wanted."

"I don't question your choice." Sean said.

"Thank you, for your help. I just need some time to think." Kasumi said sitting down on the couch, hugging her knees close to her chest.

"I understand." Sean said exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Shepard's voice crackled over the intercom, "Sean, report to the briefing room." Sean quickly made his way up to the CIC and into the briefing room. Shepard and Tali stood around the table. Sean nodded a 'hello' to both of them and took his place at the table.

"Yes Commander?" He asked.

Shepard leaned in, "We just got a message about a disabled Collector ship. We're going aboard."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Rendezvous in thirty seconds, Commander." Joker called out as the squad entered the drop ship.

Sean's heart was beating hard. He had never seen a Collector face to face before. There were many fabricated pictures on the extranet, he was eager to see one face-to-face. He breathed out slowly, slowing his heartbeat. He took a seat and laid his Mattock across his legs. Sean rolled his helmet in his hands. It felt like ages since he had worn it. He gingerly brushed the dust off the black visor. He rubbed his hand against the vertical grates of the grey external re-breather. Waiting for the ship to touch down, he began to nervously tweak at bits of the mask. The drop ship slowly weaved in and out of the external supports of the enormous Collector ship before landing inside a small crevice. Sean and Shepard did one last adjustment to their helmets. Sean checked his airflow then sealed off the helmet, tapping it twice for luck. The airlock hissed open as Shepard, Tali, and Sean stepped out of the drop ship, and onto the floor of the Collector ship.

"My God." Sean said looking around at the room they were in. "It looks like the inside of a beehive."

"Shepard." EDI said over their headsets, "I've compared the ships EM signatures to known Collector profiles. It is the vessel you encountered on Horizon."

"Maybe the defense towers softened it for the turians." Shepard commented walking on ahead. Sean and Tali quickly fell into stride. All three of them walked carefully forward, their weapons still holstered.

"Keelah." Tali said shocked in stopping in mid stride.

"My God." Shepard began.

Sean turned to look and saw a pile of dead bodies before them. He instinctively brought his arm up to his mouth. What lay before him astounded him. He had seen dead bodies before, but these bodies were contorted and it looked like the life had been sucked out of them, forcibly. "Why would the Collectors leave a pile of bodies around?" Sean wondered aloud.

"These look like test subjects." Tali stated.

"They didn't deserve this." Shepard said, "We need to stop them as soon as we can." There was a short pause before Shepard walked on.

They navigated their way through various corridors until one opened to a giant chamber. The enormous ceiling seemed to stretch on for what looked like hundreds of feet, filled with glowing brown pods.

"They could harvest every human on Earth!" Sean exclaimed.

"Not if we stop them first" Shepard said, marveling at the expanse of the room. She slowly strode forward, eyes still scanning the immense room.

"There. There's a control panel on that platform." Tali pointed out.

"Wait, if the turians managed to shut down this ship, then where are the bodies of the Collector crew?" Sean asked. He then nervously pulled his Mattock off his back, checking his thermal clip. "Something doesn't feel right."

"You're right. Be ready." Shepard responded as she approached the terminal on the platform. "EDI? I'm setting up a bridge between you and the Collector ship, see if you can get anything useful."

Quickly EDI responded, "Data mine in progress."

"Uh… That can't be good." Joker said over the headset. Suddenly the Collector ship shook in what felt like an explosion. Machine parts began to come alive, moving and working. The Collector ship appeared to become back online.

"Shit!" Sean yelled as he lost his footing.

"What the hell just happened?" Shepard barked.

"Major power surge." Joker responded, "We're back up now."

Sean began to frantically scan the room, Mattock locked onto his shoulder and his finger on the trigger. "We're not alone. Shepard I think this was-"

"-A trap." EDI said, finishing Sean's sentence. The platform then shot up into the immense chamber.

"This just got bad." Sean said, holding himself steady on onto of the rails.

"EDI we're going to need some help here." Shepard said.

"I'm having trouble maintaining a connection. There's someone else in the system." EDI responded. The platform came to a screeching halt sending Shepard and Tali falling to the ground. Sean quickly ran over and helped them up. Other platforms rose up into the air, filled with Collector soldiers.

"Here they come!" Sean yelled as a Scion fired one of his blasts. Sean grabbed Tali and dove out of the shockwave. They both scrambled to their knees and made their way to cover.

"Heads up!" Tali warned as two collectors jumped onto their platform. She quickly emerged and fired two shots. Both connected with the Collectors, taking down their biotic barriers. Sean then popped up from his cover and took down one Collector with two shots straight to its head.

"Sean! I need a concussive shot!" Shepard commanded. Sean nodded and rose, priming his shot and firing it at a Collector, causing it to fly off the platform and down into the abyss of the chamber.

Sean returned to his cover, loading a fresh clip into his gun. He heard a defining screech and he peaked over his cover. Husks were unloaded off another platform and ran towards Sean, arms flailing at their sides. Sean quickly stood up and fired his entire clip at the onslaught, but he was soon overwhelmed.

"Sean!" Tali exclaimed running from her cover over to him. She quickly fired multiple bursts from her shotgun into the remaining Husks.

"Thanks." Sean said brushing the bodies off of him. "I thought they had me there!"

Tali nodded as she returned to a piece of cover behind Sean.

"Tali!" Sean yelled as he saw a Collector train its rifle on her. The beam charged and fired. It connected with Tali, damaging her shields. Sean stood up into the shot, taking the full blast of the beam. He felt the heat of the beam passing through his armor and quickly into his skin. The beam quickly disappeared as Shepard sniped the Collector. Sean let out a cry of pain as he fell to his knees. His vision grew blurry and all noise seemed to subside. He felt a heavy flow of blood running down his chest and right arm. He instinctively lifted up his left hand to cover the flow of blood coming from his right arm. As his hearing came back to him he heard a faint hiss coming from his right. He looked down to see that the Collector beam had also sliced into his Mattock rifle. He watched helplessly as the molten metal case of the rifle seeped into the loaded, and primed, concussive shot. The shot ignited, causing a large explosion and sending Sean flying backwards. His limp body connected with Tali's, sending them both towards the edge of the platform. She grabbed onto his body, struggling to right herself. Tali felt gravity overtake her as she fell on the ground by the. Sean's momentum kept him going, over the edge. Tali still clutched onto Sean's body as she felt herself slip as Sean's weight pulled her closer to the lip. She still gripped Sean's left hand tightly, refusing to let go. Tali watched Sean dangle there for a moment. Time seemed to slow down as she stared at Sean.

Sean looked up weakly. His eyes, barely open, but they still looked deeply into Tali's. He gave a soft smile. Blood was quickly dripping off his body and onto the chamber floor, hundreds of feet below. His grip weakened and Tali felt his hand beginning to slip from hers. "Sean don't-" She warned as she felt his hand completely slip away from hers. She gasped as he began to freefall.

Shepard's hand quickly shot out and grabbed Sean's wrist, stopping him mid fall. "Tali! I need your help!" She yelled as they both reached down and pulled Sean's body up and onto the platform. They quickly rolled him over onto his stomach, Sean was breathing weakly.

"Come on! Stay with us! We're going to get you out of here!" Shepard yelled over the sound of the battle, returning her attention to the Collectors.

"Stay with us Sean!" Tali pleaded, silver tears running down her face. Sean managed to lift his hand up to Tali's mask.

"You're alright…" Sean said as a small, comforting, smile spread across his pale face.

"And you'll be too. Stay with me Sean, don't leave." She begged. Sean's eyes slowly shut as his mind faded into darkness.

**Authors Note: OMG WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW! Right? This was one of my favorite chapters to write. Hope it's awesome to you guys! Plenty more chapters coming!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Well, I just threw a huge wrench into Sean's life. Here's the aftermath.**

**Once again, another short chapter. I tried to extend it, but I feel like I have said all that I needed to say.**

Chapter 14

Tali winced as she heard Sean's screams of pain echoed through the entire Crew Deck. The doctors had been working on him for two hours so far. Members of the crew glanced through the windows of the Med Bay, curious of what was the cause of all the commotion. Sean had sustained an enormous amount of damage during the mission, and all that damage was all meant for Tali. He had done something completely drastic to save her life.

Tali pulled Sean's jacket close to her, hugging it tightly and clinging to his memory. She had been meaning to return it to him sometime soon, but now she just held it close, praying. The screams subsided and minutes later Tali saw Dr Chakwas exit the med bay and immediately ran over to her.

"How is he?" Tali asked worried.

"He took a lot of damage," Chakwas warned, "but we managed to fix him up."

"Can I- can I see him?" Tali asked feebly, trying to peak around the doctor's body.

"He's in a deep medical coma." Chakwas stated. She paused, "Well I guess letting you see him won't do any harm…" Shrugging, she then escorted Tali to Sean's bedside.

"Keelah!" Tali gasped as she looked at Sean resting body.

The rhythmic drip of morphine slowly ran through the IV connected to Sean's arm. He seemed to be at peace, well as much peace as a man that had gone through so much hell could be at. Tali felt a tear roll down her face. He had taken his own life for the safety of hers. If that beam had hit her she would be already dead from the exposure, but that wasn't what affected her the most. Sean looked horrible. Most of his right torso was badly burnt and charred from the concussive blast, but the worst was his right arm, or what was left of it. The combined fire between the beam and the concussive shot had damaged his right arm beyond repair. Tali guessed that through surgery they removed what was left of his arm. His right arm now ended at his elbow. Petri dishes, containing skin grafts, rested on a table beside Sean, slowly growing.

Tali legs felt weak. Sean truly felt for her, but now she couldn't tell him that she did too. She let out a sigh as she sat down on a chair by Sean's side, burying her face in her hands.

"How's he doing, doctor?" Shepard asked appearing in the doorway of the med bay, her expression flat.

"Not so well, but he is recovering." Chakwas replied, scanning Sean's body.

Shepard stepped in and stood by Sean's bed. She cringed as she saw the aftermath of the wounds. Tali looked up at Shepard, more tears rolling down from her eyes.

"He'll be fine, he's strong." Shepard said comforting Tali.

"I know, but-" Tali began. Her voice slowly faded as she returned her attention to Sean's body.

"He cared about you deeply. He may have not been able to say that, but his actions yesterday spoke louder than anything he could have possibly said." Shepard said. A quivering smile came to Tali's face as she reached up and gingerly touched Sean's hand. She held his limp hand in hers and looked up at Sean's face. There was a long silence. "Come on, let's let him rest." Shepard finally said.

"Just give me a moment." Tali said. She sat quietly rubbing Sean's hand in hers. She didn't want to leave his side, she wanted to be there to tell him exactly how she felt the moment he awoke. She wanted to embrace him, feel his warmth, and feel his heartbeat against her chest. But most of all she wanted him back. Tali sighed, she knew it would take weeks for him to heal, but she wanted to be there. She unfolded the jacket and gingerly placed it upon his body.

"Alright. I'm ready." Tali said weakly. Shepard helped Tali up. She placed an arm across Tali's back and walked out of the med bay with her.

"How- how's he doing?" Garrus asked as he noticed Shepard and Tali exiting. Tali turned to see Garrus and Kasumi standing by the doorway, waiting to see Sean as well.

"He took a hard hit, but he'll be alright." Shepard reassured.

"We- We'll." Garrus stuttered.

"-Pay our respects." Kasumi finished. Shepard nodded as she watched them enter the med bay.

Shepard then led Tali to the tables and took a seat. Tali's attention quickly darted to the windows that looked inside the medical bay. She saw Garrus' and Kasumi's worried faces as they looked at Sean. She lightly smiled. Sean hadn't made many friends, but the friends that he had made truly cared about him and his wellbeing.

"Commander," Chakwas said quickly walking up to Shepard, "His arm is not showing signs of healing. I need your authorization to graft a cybernetic arm adaptor to his arm."

"Is that the only choice?" Shepard asked, concerned.

"Yes Commander, unfortunately it is." Chakwas responded

Shepard nodded, "Do everything you can to keep him alive."

Tali's head perked up as an idea jumped into her mind. She quickly stood up and ran off to Engineering.

"What was that about?" Chakwas asked.

Shepard only smiled. She knew what Tali was going off to do.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sean was alone in a dark room. He sat in the corner, his legs pulled up to his chin. He shivered at the icy touch of the stone walls. The door opened and a clatter was heard. Sean squinted into the darkness, but his eyes could not make out what it was. Sean refused to move, everything around him was cold and unwelcoming.

A light turned on, illuminating the other side of the room. Sean raised his hand in front of his eyes, cutting down on the glare. As his eyes slowly adjusted he could make a shape out.

"Tali?" he asked. The figure nodded, but did not move. Someone placed a hand on Sean's shoulder. The hand was cold causing Sean's skin to prickle at the touch. Whirling around Sean saw that Kate stood behind him. Her skin was pale and cracked and her eyes glowed from behind the darkness that obscured her face.

She looked down at him and said, "It's up to you, Sean." She then slowly stepped backward.

"What do you mean?" He asked. There was no response. He was nervous and scared. Carefully, Sean stood up. He paused then slowly took his first step forward. A light appeared, illuminating the room with a soft glow.

Sean took another step forward, towards Tali, and the light began to intensify. He couldn't hold it back any more. He broke into a sprint towards Tali. He had to close his eyes from the intensity of the light as he drew closer and closer. He finally made it to Tali and embraced her tightly, lifting her up into the air. He felt ecstatic. The first time in many years he had felt complete happiness. He couldn't help it any more, couldn't hold back his tears.

* * *

><p>Sean's eyes fluttered open. The constant beep from the heart monitor was the only sound echoing through the room. His entire body ached. It felt like years since he had last moved. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. He slowly moved the covers off of his chest and jumped in surprise. His entire torso was covered in a large bandage.<p>

"What the?" he muttered as he tried to sit up to get a better look at it. Pain erupted in his chest causing him to groan in pain and slowly lie back down.

"You're awake!" Chakwas said, stunned.

"How long?" Sean said as he began to scan his body. Everything felt the same, but one thing was different, he couldn't feel his right hand. Curious, he glanced at his right arm and discovered it in a sling. He went to move it, but Dr. Chakwas stopped his hand.

"You've been out for three weeks. You sustained a tremendous amount of damage on your last mission with Shepard." Chakwas responded.

"What happened?" Sean asked, his head spinning.

"Before I answer that, there's someone who would like to speak with you." Chakwas said smiling.

"What-" was all Sean could say before the door slid open and Tali rushed in.

"Oh thank Keelah you're alright! I thought you were dead!" Tali said hugging Sean; Sean, as well, put his arms around Tali. He smiled as the memory of his dream returned to him. He felt his heart flutter inside his chest as butterflies formed in his stomach. A Tear began to slowly roll down Tali's cheek as she squeezed him tighter. Sean let out a groan of pain. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized. She loosened her grip but did not let go entirely.

"No, it's alright. I'm just a little sore." Sean said, smiling. "So, what happened?" He asked again.

"You took a shot meant for me." She said squeezing his hand, "A Collector beam hit you while your shields were down, then a premature detonation of your concussion shot knocked you out." Tali said, taking a seat near by.

"That doesn't sound that bad." Sean said. Itching his right shoulder. His hand began to slowly trace down his right arm.

"Unfortunately the combined power of the Collector beam and the concussive blast," She paused, "damaged your arm beyond repair."

Sean froze as he felt the cold touch of metal halfway down his bicep. "What the hell?" He said in shock as he removed his arm from the sling. He stared at what had once been his right arm; in its place was a metal plug at the end of his bicep. His heart began to pound against his chest. "What the fuck?" He said in horror as he began to hyperventilate.

"You were losing blood too quickly, this was the only way to stop it." Chakwas explained as Tali tried to comfort Sean. Sean's breathing slowed as he began to accept the situation.

"I just- I just- I just- Oh God." Sean stammered. He rested his head on Tali's shoulder and took a couple long breaths, calming himself. Sean turned his head toward the door as a clutter of noises sounded from behind it.

"He's awake?" Garrus said as he entered the doors. "Hey!" He said as spotted Sean, "How are you feeling? Still in one piece?" He asked.

"Some what…" Sean said, depression filling his voice, returning his attention to his right arm.

"Oh, sorry." Garrus apologized taking his place at the foot of the bed. "The whole Normandy is buzzing with stories about what happened. Did you really…" He turned and looked at Tali, holding Sean's hand, "ah! So it is true!" He said smiling.

"You did something remarkable there." Kasumi said materializing behind Garrus, causing him to jump.

"Thanks." Sean said, his smile growing. "Thanks for being here guys."

"Hey we're always here for you." Garrus said.

"Me too." Tali said squeezing Sean's hand in hers. Sean smiled as he turned towards Tali.

"Looks like the hero has awoken." Came a voice from the door. All heads turned to see Shepard casually leaning against the doorway. "How are you doing? You took a major hit." She asked walking forward.

"Much better." Sean said.

Shepard took a seat on the foot of Sean's bed, "You did something pretty heroic."

"Yea..." He said smiling as he turned to Tali.

"You think you can sit up?" Shepard asked.

"Yea I think." Sean groaned trying to lift himself up. He fought through the burning pain in his chest and slowly sat up.

"Dr. Chakwas, can I take Sean for a moment?" Shepard asked.

"I'm sure that will be fine, let me get the wheelchair." Chakwas said, trying to hide a smile. She slowly wheeled it to Sean's bedside as Shepard and Garrus slowly lifted Sean from his bed.

"What's this all about?" Sean asked, looking around the room for an answer. He desperately tried to look out the windows to see if something was going on outside. He saw nothing; no one was milling about the Mess Hall. There was no noise, the  
>Normandy felt empty. Shepard slowly began to push Sean out of the Med Bay. The doors parted and Sean curiously poked his head outside. What looked like every crewmember stood in front of the Med Bay. They turned as they saw the doors open. A slow clap began followed by applause. "What the-" Sean said, shocked by everyone standing before him. He just sat there, dazed at the response. He heard shouts of encouragement, and couldn't help but smile. It felt good to be back.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well he's back! This chapter took a while to write and review. I wanted Sean coming out of his coma to a big part. <strong>

**The relationship between Sean and Tali took a real jump too. I need to focus on that for a while... (Mental note!) **

**Any way... Big stuff happens the next few chapters!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Allow me to explain… I have gotten comments confused about Sean's condition during surgery. He was in a medical coma, and it has been proven that patients wince or groan during surgery. So basically imagine Sean's surgery was so bad he was screaming from his coma…  
>On that happy note… Here's chapter 16<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 16<p>

Sean let the cold water of the shower fall over his entire body. He breathed out slowly as he let the rhythmic beats of water against his skin calm him. He looked down at his chest. He chuckled lightly, even after three weeks in a coma and with the loss of his arm he still maintained his well-defined figure. But now, a gruesome looking scar rested on his chest, stretching from his hip to his collarbone. He gingerly ran his left hand over his scar and memories of the mission flooded back to him. They didn't bother him. It actually brought him peace that Tali was alright. He smiled as the memories of the mission dissolved away as Tali filled his mind.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, quickly toweling off. He examined his feature in the mirror. He casually noticed that over the three weeks he was unconscious he had developed thick beard stubble. Being lazy he put off shaving, and now it had slowly formed a short beard. He twisted his head and examined all angles. He gave an approving smile and quickly changed into his Cerberus fatigues and stepped towards the door. His stomach rumbled and he decided it was time to have dinner. He reached his right arm forward to open the door. He paused; shaking his head he brought his left hand forward and punched the holographic sign on the door. It had been a couple of days after he was released off of bed rest and he still hadn't gotten used to using his left hand in place of his right. He sighed as he opened the door with his left hand. As the doors slid open he quickly matted his uncontrolled hair down. Stepping off he filed inline for the Mess Hall. As he received his food, he quickly scanned the room for a friendly face. To his surprise Tali was seated at the far table. She waived him over and he quickly made his way over to her.

"Well here's a different sight." Sean teased, "What brings you up from the depths of the engine room?"

"Glad you got your personality back." Tali said laughing. "I see you're growing a beard." She added.

"Ah, well, I guess I'm getting lazy." Sean said nervously rubbing his beard, "I'll shave it off tomorrow."

"Don't! It gives you that- Oh what do you humans say…" Tali said tapping her finger against the chin of her helmet.

"Grizzled?" Sean responded.

"Yes! It makes you look grizzled." Tali quickly responded.

"So you're saying I'm looking older?" Sean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It makes you look sophisticated." Tali said, placing her hand on Sean's. "So how are you feeling?"

"Feeling better every day!" Sean said desperately trying to spear his meat with his fork. "This might take time…" Sean said sighing.

"You'll get used to it." Tali said placing a gentle hand on Sean's right arm.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." Sean said lifting up his right arm and once again examining the metal socket.

"Hey," Tali began pushing Sean's right arm down, "Things will get better." She said trying to soothe him.

"I know, I know." Sean said, pain sinking into his voice.

"Hey I have something to show you." Tali said.

"What?" Sean said confused.

"Come on!" She said taking him by the hand and leading him out of the Mess Hall.

"But my food!" Sean said as his stomach growled angrily at him.

"It won't take that long." Tali said smiling as she keyed Engineering on the elevator.

"What is this all about?" Sean asked.

"It's a surprise!" Tali teased as she happily bounced. The doors opened and Tali lead Sean into the Core room. Sean looked around expecting to hear Ken and Gabby chatting, but it was strangely silent.

"What's going on?" Sean asked slowly looking around the room.

"Surprise." Tali said.

"What?" Sean began as he turned around. Tali stood there, arms out holding what looked to be a robotic arm. His jaw dropped as his mind quickly grasped what was going on.

"Consider this a 'Welcome Back' gift." Tali said beaming from behind her mask. Sean just stood, mouth agape, at a loss of words. "Here, let me help you." Tali offered as she began to attach it to Sean's socket. It snapped perfectly in place with a small blue spark. Sean turned his arm examining his new limb. He quickly noticed that the robotic hand only had three long fingers, based off the Quarian anatomy. He slowly bent one of the robotic fingers. He still stood dumbfounded. "I'm sorry about the fingers. I'm not a biologist and I didn't know the human anatomy, and…" Tali rambled, twisting her hands, nervously.

Sean lifted his left hand and placed it on her shoulder, pulling her close. "For what? It's perfect." He said cheerily. He gave her a tight, one armed hug, then quickly turned his attention back to his new 'gift'.

"Oh, well. I didn't…" Tali said nervously, but quickly calmed, "Getting used to it may take a while…"

"Actually I think I got it down." Sean said happily twisting the wrist and moving the fingers. He was amazed by the intricacy of the arm. "How did you make this?" He said.

"I'm a Quarian. Give me a hunk of metal and some Ezo and I can have it doing precise jumps in no time!" Tali bragged.

"Thank you so much!" Sean said laughing as he lifted Tali into the air and brought her tightly to his chest. Tali couldn't help but laugh. She felt so happy for him, and she was so glad to have him back. She hugged him tightly too, closing her eyes as she rested her head against his chest.

"Ow, that's a little tight!" She said as Sean's robotic arm began to clamp down on her arm.

"I'm so sorry!" Sean apologized setting her down. "I guess I don't know how strong this thing is!"

"Hey Tali- Oh Sean!" Shepard said jumping as she entered the door. "Am I interrupting anything?" Shepard quickly asked.

"No. It was nothing. " Sean and Tali quickly said, taking a step away from each other, blushing.

Shepard spotted Sean's robotic arm and remarked, "Oh, Sean, I see you got Tali's gift!"

"You knew about it?" Sean said, astonished.

"She was working on that non-stop when you were in the Med Bay." Shepard said smiling. "So how's it working out?" She curiously asked.

"Actually, it works pretty well." Sean said waiving the fingers around.

"You sound surprised." Tali said placing her hands on her hips.

"I didn't mean!-" Sean said stumbling over his words.

"I'm teasing you!" Tali said, once again giving him a hug.

"You two are evil together!" Sean joked.

"Hey shape up! You're talking to a commanding officer!" Shepard said, dropping all emotion from her face. Then both Tali and Shepard doubled over in laughter.

Throwing his hands up in the air, "My God! I give up with you two! I'll be in my room if either of you need me. And Tali, I can't thank you enough for this." Sean added lifting up his new robotic arm. Tali waived to Sean as he left. "I'll talk to you later Tali!"

Sean entered his room and flopped happily onto his cot.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well now he has a robotic arm. I went out on a limb here. I just thought, "Well if they could completely reanimate Shepard, they can make a simple robotic arm!"<strong>

**And now you're officially caught up with me! Fun stuff! I'm finding it harder to write the following chapter… Transferring my ideas to paper… I may need to go on a hiatus for a while… but not without a bang! So expect at least 2 more chapters!**

**I also want to thank the readers and fans reading this. Most of my stories end around the 10,000 word area, but because of all of the follows and reviews I'm getting keep me going. So keep being awesome readers!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Well it took me a while to write this chapter, mostly because I wasn't in the Mass Effect mood. Then I found a package addressed to me… turns out, my friend sent me the Joker (SR2) hat! Really boosted my spirit! With the power the hat gave me I wrote this chapter and a few more! **

**Keep up the awesome comments, subscriptions, and favorites!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 17<p>

Sean twisted in his cot trying to find a more comfortable position. This was the first time in a while that he had been unable to sleep. He sighed as he turned and stared at the clock. Only five minutes had passed since he last looked at it. He moaned in frustration and flopped onto his back. He stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander.

Minutes later, his alarm chirped at him, reminding him of his appointment with Dr. Chakwas. Sean moaned again as he kicked the covers away from his body, feeling the warmth quickly dissipate into the frigid air of the Engineering deck. He staggered forward, wiping the sleep from his eyes, and placed a stable hand on a crate. As his mind focused he reached out and grabbed his robotic arm. He smiled as thoughts of Tali leaped into his mind. Giving it a sharp twist, he locked it onto the plug on his right arm. His muscles tensed as a weak electrical wave rippled through his body. He flexed the arm and wiggled the fingers, testing its connections. Sean quickly pulled on an old "N7 Code of Honor: Medal of Duty" shirt and his cotton gym shorts. He quickly tried to brush the wrinkles out of his shirt. Satisfied, Sean slowly walked out of the room. He paused staring forward as his vision glazed over and his eyelids felt heavy. He shook away the feeling and slapped his cheeks, trying to wake up. Slowly stepping forward Sean collided with Kelly Chambers.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sean and Kelly said in unison.

"Didn't expect to see you up this late." Kelly commented straightening her uniform.

"Trouble sleeping." Sean replied, "What beings you down to Engineering?"

"I try to get to know everyone on this ship." Kelly replied examining Sean.

"Well we've never really talked, but I have to visit the doctor." Sean said.

"Well I would like to talk to you sometime…" Kelly trailed off.

"Later." Sean said quickly walking out of the room. Kelly's eyes followed him out of the room. A shiver ran up Sean's spine as he stepped onto the elevator. He keyed it for the Crew Deck and casually leaned against the wall as the elevator smoothly moved upwards.

Sean casually strode into the Med Bay sighing audibly.

Swiveling around in her chair, Dr. Chakwas asked, "Don't like hospitals, Sean?"

"Don't like shots." Sean said taking a seat on one of the operating tables. "Let's get this over with." He said focusing his eyes on one of the many blinking lights on the ceiling.

"I'm going to need you to remove your arm." Chakwas asked.

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Sean said sitting up and unlocking his arm. He set it beside and propped up his body with his other arm.

"How's the arm feeling?" Chakwas asked, trying to strike up a conversation to distract Sean.

"Surprisingly well." Sean said.

"How's Tali?" She asked.

Sean's blood went cold. "Wait you know about that?" Sean said twisting his head to look her in the face.

Letting out a quiet laugh Chakwas responded, "The whole ship knows about you two!"

"So much for subtly." Sean said sighing as he lay back down on the table. His muscles tensed as he heard the doctor begin to shuffle around, piecing the syringe together.

"I think it's quite cute." She said smiling. "You sacrificing your life for her." She said. A weak smile formed on her face as her appearance became sorrowful. Her head slowly dropped.

"Was there someone in your life?" Sean asked.

"A long time ago." Chakwas said mournfully.

"What happened to them?" Sean asked curious.

"Times changed." Chakwas said, "We fell apart. Went our separate ways. So much had changed since then…" She trailed off.

"Time seems to do that." Sean said. There was a long silence as both of them dwelled in their own thoughts.

"Sorry." Chakwas quickly said, shaking her head as she came back to reality. She continued her procedure. "Just don't let it slip away from you." She said.

"I won't." Sean assured, "She's- She's really special to me. I just wish I could find a way to say it to her."

"Just explain exactly how you feel to her." Chakwas said, smiling once again.

"What? Just go up to her and say 'Hey Tali, I really and truly lov-" Sean was cut off as Chakwas administered his shot to Sean's stomach. Groaning in pain, Sean said through gritted teeth, "Great timing Doc."

"I don't need to hear it. She does." Chakwas said helping Sean off the table. She quickly became professional and reminded Sean, "Remember, don't attach you arm for the next ten minutes."

"Sure thing, and thank you. You really gave me a lot to think about." Sean said as he staggered forward, out of the Med Bay.

"Oh, one more thing." Chakwas said. Sean paused bracing for something unexpected. "I am sending your medical report to Shepard. I have cleared you for active duty." Sean's expression brightened as happiness took control of his body. He happily strode back into the empty Mess Hall. A door quietly opened on the far side of the room. Sean turned and saw Shepard leave the front batteries. Their eyes locked on each other.

"Why is it that we seem to run into each other like this?" Shepard asked chuckling.

"Who knows? I guess I'm a night owl." Sean said smiling. There was an awkward silence as they both glanced around the room, trying to think of something to break the ice. Coughing, Sean asked, "So how are you and Garrus doing?" Shepard's eyes widened as she tried to search for an answer. Sean couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me." Sean reassured.

"Oh well…" Shepard said, trying to find words. "We're going well. How are you and Tali?"

Sean's mind began to race. "Very well, I mean… we aren't really 'together'… well I want… just…" Sean sputtered trying to form a coherent sentence.

"That well huh?" Shepard chuckled.

"I just don't know how to say how I feel." Sean said, his head drooping, "It's just so hard!"

"Don't be so nervous. She likes you too. I'm sure it's mutual." Shepard reassured.

"Probably, thanks Shepard." Sean said as he walked onto the elevator.

* * *

><p>Sean rested his arms on the railing in the core room. He stood quietly staring up into the fluctuating core losing himself in the gentle waves emitting from the center.<p>

"Got a lot on your mind?" Tali asked slowly walking up behind him.

"Plenty." Sean said smiling as Tali wrapped her arms around Sean. "I don't know why, but the core seems to clam me." Sean added.

"Is sure is nice." Tali said as she too stared into the core. Sean sighed quietly.

_Come on say it! _Sean's mind screamed at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He quickly closed his mouth. Frustrated and angry with himself he just wrapped his arm around Tali and hugged her tightly, letting the moment last for a while longer.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Sean gingerly picked up one of his cloths and slowly began to clean off the individual parts as he reassembled his weapon. He enjoyed cleaning his gun before and after every mission, it gave his mind something to focus on. Something about seeing the inner workings of a weapon intrigued him and he could easily kill an hour maintaining his weapons. Sean stood up and stretched his muscles then made his way to the mirror he had bought on his most recent shore leave. He rubbed his hands down his face and through his short beard, accentuating how tired he felt. He examined his body in the reflection of the mirror. With two fingers he traced the scar. With a shake of his head he made his way over to his new bed and laced up his shoes. He stepped out of his room and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the air-conditioned air of the Engineering level greeted him. His senses snapped awake as he began to shiver himself warm. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep warm as he walked into the engine room.

"Hey Tali do you know-" Sean stopped as he saw Tali. She turned to him, her eyes full of worry. "What's wrong?" Sean asked, quickly walking to her side.

"The- The Fleet is charging me with… treason" She said worry deep in her voice.

"What!" Sean exclaimed. He felt like he had been charged as well. "That's insane! You couldn't do that! They don't know what they are talking about!" Sean ranted. "Calling you a traitor is like calling me an AI!" Sean added, trying to lighten the mood.

Tali laughed, "Well you are part…" She teased, "Thanks, thanks for making me feel better." Her tone dropped again, "But I do need to go to the Fleet and clear my name."

"I'll tell Shepard you'd like to talk to her." Sean offered.

"Thanks" Tali said, giving him a hug, "I'm just worried."

"Don't worry you'll get through this." Sean said hugging her back, "I'll be quick and easy. Shepard has a way of convincing others."

"That she does." Tali agreed.

* * *

><p>Shepard, Tali, and Sean stepped out of the Normandy onto the Raya. As requested Sean and Shepard were wearing full masks to avoid polluting the clean air with their germs. Sean liked wearing his helmet. It provided protection, not only from bullets; it protected his identity. Sean never felt comfortable standing out in a crowd, and as one of the only two humans on the ship, his tinted visor did the trick. Sean turned and stared at Tali. Everything about her body language said joy, from her quick strides to her long glances at the surroundings. He understood; she was returning home, nothing new, and everything familiar. But there was a deep sorrow inside of her. She wasn't back for a leisurely visit, she was being charged for treason against the Quarian Fleet.<p>

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy I am glad you came. I could only delay them for so long." An elderly female voice said.

"Auntie Raan!" Tali exclaimed embracing the admiral, "Shepard vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. She's a friend of my fathers." Tali said returning her attention to Shepard. "Wait. Raan you called me 'vas Normandy'" She said, confused, turning back to Admiral Raan.

"I'm afraid I did, Tali. The Admiralty Board moved to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema." Raan said, her tone becoming somber.

"I guess we should get started." Shepard said. "Does Tali have a defense councilor, someone to speak for her side?"

"Indeed she does… Captain Shepard. She is part of your crew recognized by quarian law. And remember, an accused is always represented by his or her ship captain." Raan stated. The trio entered a large courtyard. Few quarians milled about the outskirts, but a mass of them sat on bleachers surrounding the stage, in what could be described as a courtroom. Sean fell back and leaned back against the far back wall of the room as the trial commenced. Sean never liked the political system. There were too many loopholes and red tape. It seemed like if you wanted to get anything done you would have to wait, and wait, and wait, and eventually time would run out and nothing would be accomplished. He sighed as the Admirals of the Quarian fleet began to throw accusations at each other as the trial commenced.

* * *

><p>Sean's body gently shook with the turbulence of the small drop ship as it made its way to the Alarei. The court case went from bad to worse; Tali was not only bombarded with accusations of treason, but she was also sprung with the news that her father could be dead on the Alarei. Sean looked over at Tali quietly seated besides him. He placed his left hand on her shoulder, "It will be alright." He reassured.<p>

"I hope." Was all Tali could say. She was lost deep in thought. Sean gently massaged her shoulder for a minute trying to relieve some of her stress. Sean couldn't help but notice that the trial wasn't entirely centered on Tali. They seemed focused on the geth, almost looking for a reason to use towards their position of the war with the geth.

He made a mental note of that as the pilot's voice cackled over the speakers, "We are nearing the Alarei." Sean pushed the thoughts about the case aside. He needed to help clear Tali's name at all costs.

"Remember this is a rescue mission." Shepard debriefed Sean and Tali, "Priority: save all surviving quarians, then eradicate all remaining geth. Understood?" Tali nodded in understanding. Sean reached down and primed his gun, checking his clip. Sean holstered his gun and gave a quick a nod to Shepard. Shepard stood up and grabbed onto one of the rails on the ceiling, "Alright. Let's get ready." She said. Both stood and took their places behind Shepard as the doors of the drop ship hissed open, the pressure of the drop ship equalizing to that of the Alarei.

* * *

><p>Sean slowly breathed out as he fired two shots. Both connected with the last standing geth, piercing its head and spattering the wall behind it with white coolant fluid.<p>

"Clear!" Sean yelled as he stood up from his cover. The team slowly made their way forward. "Oh no…" Sean gasped as he saw the body of a quarian.

"Father!" Tali cried as she ran forward and knelt by the body. "No, no, no! You always had a plan. Masked life signs, or, or an onboard medical stasis program maybe. You! You wouldn't…" She said desperately, pain deep in her voice. Tears began streaming down her eyes. "They're wrong! You wouldn't just die like this! You wouldn't leave me to clean up your mess! You can't."

Sean's heart wrenched as he saw Tali breakdown in front of him. "Hey…" Sean said helping Tali up and embracing her. She buried her face in Sean's chest. Tali's body shook as she tried to fight off her emotions.

"Damn it! Damn it! I'm sorry." Tali said.

"Don't be." Sean said squeezing Tali tightly against his chest, "You've got nothing to be sorry about."

"Maybe… he would have known I'd come. Maybe he left a message." Tali said, returning her attention to the body of her father. She weakly waived her arm over her father's body. His omnitool activated and a holographic image of Tali's father appeared.

"Tali, if you are listening, then I am dead. The geth have gone active. I don't have much time." Her father began, rapidly breathing, "Their main hub will be on the bridge. You'll need to destroy it to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links. Make Sure Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen see the data. They must-" The transmission ended abruptly as loud crashes and explosions were heard in the background.

"Thanks, Dad." Tali painfully said, slowly standing up.

"He knew you'd come for him. He was trying to help you. It's not perfect. It's not what you wanted. But it's the best he could do." Shepard said, trying to help Tali.

"I don't know what's worse, thinking that he never really cared or that he did, and this was the only way he could show it." Tali said shaking her head slowly, "It doesn't matter. One way or another. I cared. And I'm here. And we're ending this."

"Let's keep moving." Shepard said, pulling her assault rifle off her back. Sean stood in shock at what he had just seen. His mind was swimming in questions. "Come on." Shepard said, snapping Sean back to reality.

"Yeah, uh, sorry." Sean mumbled as he moved on. The trio slowly walked up the stairs. All three of them froze when they reached the top. Before them stood a two geth troopers and a massive geth prime assembled around the main hub. "My god…" Sean began shocked at the immense size of the geth prime.

"We take out the troopers then focus on the prime." Shepard ordered. Tali and Sean nodded as they slowly rounded the corner. Sean lined up one of the geth in his sights.

"On three." Shepard's voice whispered from behind him, "one, two… three!" Sean squeezed his finger on the trigger, firing off two shots that easily tore through the geth trooper's head. It dropped to the floor along with the second geth, a hole from a shotgun blast in its chest.

"Here it comes!" Sean yelled as he dove forward to cover. The geth prime turned quickly and began to charge up its gun and unleashed a barrage of bullets in Shepard's direction.

"I'm pinned down and it's coming for me!" Shepard yelled

"I gotcha!" Sean yelled back rising up from his cover and releasing his entire clip into the back of the prime, dropping its shields. It spun around and began to move towards Sean's position. "Oh shi-" was all Sean could say before the geth prime reached out with its open hand and lifted Sean off of his feet and into the air. Sean struggled in vain trying to release himself from the geth prime's grip. "Help!" Sean yelled as he began to feel the grip of the geth grow tighter. Responding, Shepard leaned out from her cover and fired. The geth winced as bullets pinged off of its armor. Deciding that Sean was no longer a problem, the geth tossed him across the room, like a rag doll, and into the control panel.

Sean head throbbed. He slowly sat up and placed a hand against his forehead as sounds began to return to him. He could hear Tali's voice, but muffled. He shook his head, trying to get his senses to return to him. "Sean shut the geth down!" Sean finally heard Tali yell from across the room.

"Yeah… yeah…" Sean said slowly lifting himself up. He stumbled over to the one working panel and began to feverishly type commands into the computer.

"Sean! We need it done now!" Shepard yelled as the geth raised its gun in her direction.

"Come on! Come on!" Sean said, his teeth gritted. "There!" He yelled as he entered the final code into the computer. The geth prime flinched and dropped to the ground, lifeless as the transition from the central HUB ended.

"Nice work." Shepard said, slowly approaching Sean, accompanied by Tali, "Now what can we get off of this computer?"

"Hopefully something to clear Tali's name." Sean said, glancing back at Tali.

The screen flickered to life, as three quarians appeared on the screen, huddled around the console, Tali's father giving the order to bring the geth online.

"That's what we need!" Sean said happily.

"No! We can't tell them! Not the admirals. Not anyone." Tali said.

"Why? It clears your name." Shepard said.

"They would exile my father. They'd strip my father's name of everything!" Tali said, "I can't let that happen."

"We're not going to decide anything here. Let's see what the admirals say when we get back." Shepard said.

"You're my Capitan in this hearing Shepard. It's your decision. But please, don't destroy what my father was." Tali begged, "Come on. If we wait too long they'll decide that we're dead and none of this would have mattered." The three of them slowly exited the room.

* * *

><p>"Sounds like the hearing is already underway." Tali commented as one of the Admiral's voices echoed through the chambers. They increased their pace to a run trying to reach the courtyard in time. "Sorry we're late." Tali said, a sarcastic tone in her voice as she broke through the crowd of people and made her way to the bench.<p>

Shepard and Sean made their way to Tali's side as Shepard spoke up. "You didn't waste much time declaring us dead."

"We apologize, Shepard. Your success of taking back the Alarei is… very unexpected." One of the Admirals said his anger focused on the admiral beside him.

"But also very welcome." Shala'Raan interjected.

"Did you find anything on the Alarei that could clarify what happened there?" an Admiral asked. Tali and Shepard exchanged looks. There was a short silence before Shepard turned back towards the Admirals. She took a step forward.

"Shepard… please…" Tali begged. Sean stepped forward and rested a hand on Tali's shoulder. She reached her hand up and gripped it tightly, heart beating quickly.

"Does Capitan Shepard have any new evidence to submit to this hearing?" Shala'Raan asked.

"We found nothing on the Alarei we wish to submit as evidence." Shepard said, her voice unwavering.

"Tali?" One of the admirals asked, pain evident in his voice.

"I have nothing to say." Tali answered. The admirals quickly glanced at each other.

"Then with no further testimony…" Shala'Raan began.

"No!" Sean yelled pushing his way forward.

"Please calm down-" one of the admirals began

"No! You don't understand! This trial has nothing to do with Tali!" Sean yelled as he reached the podium. A buzz began to arise in the crowd.

"Order! Order!" the admiral yelled, trying to calm the crowd and silence Sean.

"All you care about is the war with the geth! Tali risked her life for all of you! That should be enough!" Sean continued, his voice growing over the commotion of the crowd. One of the admirals nodded and a pair of quarian guards locked their arms around Sean. "She doesn't deserve this! " Sean yelled breaking free of the guard's grasps and moving forward. More guards began to flock around Sean, slowly restraining him and moving him out of the courtyard. "She deserves better than this!" Sean yelled as he was pulled out of the courtroom, the roar of the crowd growing distant. A pair of doors shut behind Sean and the quarian guards helped Sean to his feet.

"Stay there." One of the quarian guards commanded, pushing Sean down onto one of the crates. Slowly the guards vanished into the courtroom, leaving Sean alone in the room with two quarians, staring at him attentively.

"What?" Sean asked, angrily. The pair jumped back, then slowly backed out of the room, leaving Sean completely alone. "I hope that helped…" Sean said, sinking his head into his hands.

After what felt like hours later, the doors slid open. He looked up weakly. His eyes brightened and he quickly stood up as he saw Tali make her way towards him.

"How'd it- Oomph" Sean said as Tali quickly embraced him. Lightly chuckling he asked, "So what happened?"

"They dropped all charges!" Tali said, joy in her voice, "Though… you're not allowed to watch any other trials…" They both laughed as Sean squeezed Tali tightly.

"You're quite the speaker." Shepard commented entering the room.

"Well, I did have some motivation…" Sean said nervously scratching the back on his neck, "I just couldn't see Tali get exiled because of something that wasn't her fault. Sorry it had to come to that."

"Don't be." Tali said happily.

Shepard smiled, "Let's get back to the Normandy. I think you've caused enough trouble here today."

"Definitely." Sean responded as both he and Tali exited the room, their hands intertwined.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well it took me even longer to write this chapter! Mostly because I had to keep referencing the game for the lines. It was a sigh of relief when I had Sean interrupt the trial. Personally I hate writing something unoriginal… so net chapter will feel liberating. Well… until then, cheers.<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Turns out… while I was writing the next chapter I realized that there was a gaping plot hole… so had to fix it with this. That's why it took so long. Chapter 20 will be up in the next few days.**

Chapter 19

"I can't believe I'm back here." Sean said through gritted teeth, as he walked the streets of Omega again. "I told myself never to come back here."

"You're here for Shepard." Tali said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm doing grocery shopping!" Sean yelled, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. Tali laid her hand on Sean's shoulder, comforting him. Sean's head dipped and his tone became quiet, "Nothings changed."

Tali sighed and then quickly changed topics, "Remember, we're looking for some FBA couplings."

"Yeah, I have no idea what they look like, so you lead the way Tali!" Sean said chuckling. Tali smiled from behind her mask as the mood lifted.

* * *

><p>2 hours and many credits later…<p>

"I can't believe you spent most of your credits on that…" Sean said bemused.

"Well I just thought that if Shepard's upgrading the ship, a few more wouldn't hurt." Tali said happily walking along

"But you bought it on Omega, that thing's probably corrupted beyond belief!"

"I'll run multiple sweeps, to make sure it's clean." Tali said rolling her eyes.

"Well good-" Sean paused as his eye saw light glint off of a surface far away. Suddenly the barrel of the rifle lit up as a shot was fired. "Get down!" Sean yelled, pulling Tali to the ground with him. Sean felt the bullet whiz past his head as he fell to the ground. As the sound of the gunshot echoed through the streets, many screamed and ran, while few drew their weapons and hysterically scanned the area.

"What was that?" Tali asked frantically, her heart pounding.

"Sniper!" Sean yelled over the screams, slowly poking his head up. "Stay here!" He commanded. Sean then rolled for the nearest piece of cover, pulling his new Mattock rifle off his back. He heard another shot connect with his cover. Taking the opportunity he popped up from his cover and looked down the short-range scope at the snipers position. As he got a bead on the sniper, he used his rush of adrenaline to fire off two precise shots. Carefully Sean darted from cover to cover towards the snipers first known position. He saw as he neared the sniper that he was on rafters along the side of a very tall building. He also saw that he had shot him in the leg, crippling him. The sniper frantically fired three more shots at Sean, one pinging off of his fully charged shields. The sniper then began to escape, desperately hobbling away. Once again Sean rose from cover. Taking his time he aimed and shot at one of the cables supporting the rafter. With a slow breath out he fired one shot. The shot flew perfectly straight and severed the metal cable, causing the rafter to shift. The sniper lost his balance and slid towards the edge of the rafter. He panicked and managed to grip the edge of it, dangling helplessly.

Sean smiled; he was now in control of the situation. An evil expression crept its way across his face as he raised his rifle towards the other metal cable. He fired one more shot, causing the rafter to lurch downward. The sniper lost his grip and fell to the ground. Hearing a crunch Sean ran over to the sniper. There he lay, his left arm broken and twisted in the wrong direction.

"What do you want with me?" Sean demanded, grabbing the sniper by the collar and shaking him.

"I want nothing. I was sent to kill you." The sniper said, gurgling on his own blood. He smiled again, revealing a capsule.

"No you don't!" Sean yelled, forcing his fist into the man's mouth, stopping him mid bite. "Tell me who sent you!" Sean yelled, wrapping his fingers around the capsule. With a swift punch, from his other hand, Sean knocked the man unconscious. Glancing around, he slowly dragged the unconscious man into one of the nearby warehouses.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"What the hell?" The sniper said as he regained consciousness. He struggled only to find that he was bound to a chair. He desperately began to scan the room for an exit.

"You're going to tell me who sent you." Sean said slowly stepping into the man's vision.

"Go to hell." The man hissed.

"Not what I wanted to hear…" Sean said stepping up to the man. Grasping the sniper's pointer finger tightly, he quickly raised it up, beyond a possible angle. A snap was heard and the sniper groaned in pain. "Ready to talk now?" Sean asked.

"Fuck you." The man spat.

Sean smiled as he reached down and withdrew his knife. Spinning it casually in his hand he lowered it towards the man's bullet wound. He slowly let the knife slice into the skin. He began to slowly wiggle and twist it. Pain erupted inside the sniper as he howled in pain.

"No! No! Please stop!" The man begged.

"Tell me what I want to know." Sean said fingers still gripped around his knife.

"I was hired by the doctor." The man said through gritted teeth, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I need a name!" Sean yelled, slowly letting of on the pressure of the knife.

"Dr. Green." The man said, gasping as Sean pulled the knife out of his leg.

"Who does Green work for?" Sean asked, once again twirling his knife between his fingers.

"I don't know! The man wheezed.

"Nothing else…" Sean repeated, his fingers gripping down on the hilt of his knife.

"Please! They didn't tell me! I don't know! Please!" The man begged, shaking in fear.

"Then I fear you are no longer a use to me." Sean said walking towards the man.

"He- he mentioned something about an organization!" The man screamed in horror, "Rebeus or something like that. I don't know! Please… I've told you everything." the man begged, tears streaming down his eyes.

"That's a shame, because this is no help. Good bye…" Sean said as he slowly drew his knife across the sniper's throat, cutting it open. The man shook and gurgled as blood began to pour down his body pooling around his feet. Slowly his movements became labored, and then stopped. Wiping his hands together and cleaning his knife, Sean began to clean all evidence from the room. Just like old times…

* * *

><p>Sean slowly walked down the alleyway towards the market where he left Tali, anger slowly boiling inside his veins. One more man is still out there; one more man who knew what he really was. <em>I will find you. <em>Sean vowed. His eyes perked up as he saw Tali round the corner. He quickly changed his expression to exhaustion and worry. Their eyes locked and she ran towards him.

"Where have you been?" Tali asked. Running up to Sean.

"I was trying to chase the sniper down." Sean lied.

"Did you find anything out?" Tali asked, placing her hands on her knees and breathing heavily.

"No I lost him." Sean said.

"Keelah! You had me worried!" Tali said, squeezing Sean tightly, "You had me sacred."

"Sorry." Sean apologized. "Come on let's get back to the ship" Sean said patting Tali on the back.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Wow… this chapter's really dark… Sean is getting angrier! Things onboard the Normandy will change as well.<br>And a little more of Sean's past will be revealed soon! More coming soon! Stay Tuned!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: BA BOOM! Next chapter! I am on a roll today! Hopefully I can get the next one up today (fingers crossed). Thanks again for all the comments, subscriptions, and favorites; Every little bit keeps me going and pulls me out of the lull. **

**Thanks again fans! You guys are awesome!**

_..._

Chapter 20

Sean had been thinking about his past a lot recently since the attempt on his life. Dr. Green wanted him dead. Did he think Sean knew something or was he in fear of his own life? Or had he done something wrong and he couldn't remember it. The emptiness and confusion worried him. No matter what Kate had said, he wanted to know, he wanted some ground to stand on.

"Here you go." Gardner said handing the meal to Sean, snapping Sean away from his painful thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, Thanks." Sean said, stumbling on his words as he picked up his meal. He made a beeline to the elevator and punched in the fourth floor. He needed something to distract himself. As the doors slid open he slowly sauntered into engineering. He casually leaned against the panel next to Tali, waiting to get her attention. She slowly looked up. "You looked hungry." Sean said smiling and handing over one of her food tubes.

"Well..." She began. Then realizing this wasn't a conversation she could win she conceded, "Thanks." She said

"Any time." Sean said beaming, worry creeping into his mind.

"So, how have you been?" Tali asked.

"Different." Sean responded.

"Different how?" Tali asked, curious.

"It seems like for once, I'm calm. No worry, no sorrow, only happiness." Sean said, trying to trick himself to believe it. It didn't work. His eyes slowly looked up and off into the distance as his hopes dropped.

"Um… You know you're crushing your meal." Tali observed.

"I, what?" Sean said then quickly looked at his right hand and saw that his meal was slowly being smashed between his robotic fingers. "Heh, I guess I'm not totally adjusted to it." Sean chuckled as he began to pick the remains of the food out of the mechanisms of his fingers.

"Something on your mind?" Tali asked, worried.

"My past." Sean said his eyes dropping to the ground. The silence grew between them. They both ate quietly, pondering.

Butterflies began to arise in Sean's stomach. _Come on, you know why you're here. _His mind reminded him, _tell her! _Taking a deep breath, Sean spoke. "Hey, Tali?"

"Hmm?" She asked, taking a drink from her meal. She looked up, their eyes meeting.

Taking a deep breath to calm his shivering body, Sean said, "There's been something that's been on my mind for a long time now." Tali, for once, was happy she had a mask to obscure her facial expressions. She couldn't help but beam from behind it. She knew what he was going to say. She had been waiting for a long time to hear it. She didn't say a word; she wanted to hear him say it. Sean continued, "It's really hard to say, but-" his Omni tool chirped, cutting him off. He wouldn't let it stop him. He needed to say what was on his mind. "The truth is that-" Sean began, but again his omni tool chirped. "God Damn it!" Sean swore, "This better be really damn important!" He opened his omni tool and scrolled through the messages. There was a short pause as he began to skim the letter. Sean's face quickly changed from anger to disbelief.

"What is it?" Tali asked, completely confused.

"It's… they… another…" Sean babbled. Curious, Tali looked over to the omni tool's screen and read the message. It appeared to be a status report, on a doctor.

"Who is Dr. Green?" Tali asked, looking up to Sean's face.

"Another missing piece of my past." Sean said shutting off his omni tool, "I need to speak with Shepard." Sean said as he began to exit engineering.

"Sean," Tali began, "Be careful." Sean didn't answer. The doors slid shut, ending their conversation. Tali sighed as a tear rolled down her face.

* * *

><p>"Where did you receive this intel from?" Shepard asked, not yet sold on this idea.<p>

"I put out old friends and acquaintances out after I ran into that sniper back on Omega." Sean responded, "They contacted me immediately after they discovered this."

"I thought you were over this, Sean." Shepard said sternly.

"This isn't for revenge, I just need to know. I need to fill in the blanks." Sean said, beginning to pace about the room.

Shepard sighed as she reached out her arm and rested it on the railing of the galaxy map, "Where is this doctor supposed to be?" she asked skeptically.

"Noveria." Sean answered. Shepard paused, letting it stew in her mind. "I don't need a team." Sean suggested, "I can just go by myself."

"That'll be too risky. Whatever organization you were a part of before is looking for you. They won't hesitate to kill you."

"Listen, Shepard," Sean said, frustration rising in his voice, "I need to do this, and I will find a way to make this happen. With or without your help." Sean said turning and leaving the room.

* * *

><p>Anger boiled inside of Sean as he paced about his room. His mind ached. He needed answers. The ship shook as the docking clamps of the Citadel anchored the Normandy. An idea sprung up in his mind. Shepard was off with Thane on a mission, leaving an open window. Sean leapt to action, attaching his armor to himself and holstering his weapons. He exited the room and casually walked to the airlock. He flinched as he saw Shepard and Thane enter the airlock.<p>

_Shit! _Sean thought, praying that not a word would be said.

"Why are you in full combat gear?" Shepard asked.

"Safety." Sean quickly responded.

"And the weapons?" Shepard said, her eyebrow rising.

"One of the barrels is chipped. I need to buy a new one." Sean said. Shepard eyed him carefully until the airlock opened. She stepped out with Thane at her side. Breathing a sigh of relief and relaxing Sean stepped out and took a quick turn, headed to the public transport dock.

* * *

><p>Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped back onto the ship, With Thane at her side.<p>

"EDI are we ready for take off?" Shepard asked.

"Not quite." EDI responded appearing at a panel in front of Shepard, "Mr. Mason has not returned to the ship yet."

"No. Please don't do this." Shepard murmured to herself, massaging the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She quickly made a call, "Bailey. I need a favor."

"Sure, Commander, what's the problem?" Bailey responded.

"I need you to search for any recent activity from a Sean Mason." Shepard asked.

"Sure, did he cross you?" Bailey asked.

"He may be up to no good." Shepard said, anger rising in her voice.

"Ah, here we go." Bailey said as a file popped up on his monitor, "Looks like he bought a last-minute ticket to Noveria two hours ago."

"Thank you." Shepard said, immediately cutting off all comms. "Joker, set the fastest course to Noveria." She commanded.

"Aye aye, Commander." Joker responded.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: BA JOW! Next chapter! **

Chapter 21

Sean breathed out slowly, watching his breath vanish into the frigid air of Noveria. He wiped some of the falling snow off his armor and began to scan the landscape. He watched as waves of snow slowly blew over the tops enormous mountains like waves. A thick layer of snow had settled on the entire landscape, making walking difficult. Lightly shivering, Sean began to slowly trek across the frozen landscape.

"It should be somewhere around here…" Sean said to himself as he casually walked around the bend. "Eureka." Sean said smiling to himself as his eyes locked onto a small lab on the side of a mountain. He lifted the scope of his Mattock up to his eye, scanning the outside. It was clear, not a single guard in sight. Sean shrugged, who would want to be out here anyways? He asked himself as he slapped the Mattock onto his back. He took another step forward, towards the answer to all of his questions.

* * *

><p>Sean stood still as the lab loomed above him. The lab appeared to be mostly dug into the mountain, leaving only a portion visible. Slanted metal supports held what appeared to be a concrete building in its place.<p>

Sean took a tentative step forward onto the metal pathway. Kicking the snow off his boots he withdrew his pistol and jogged to the door. Plastering himself to the wall beside the door he cautiously reached forward and keyed the door open. Peaking around the corner with his pistol raised, he paused. The hallway was completely empty. This was not what he had expected. He slowly pressed on, running through empty hallway after empty hallway. He gradually began to wind his way through the bleached white hallways of the lab.

Peaking around another corner, he saw a shadow of a man angled across the wall. Sean's heartbeat quickened as he slowly dropped to a crouch and silently walked toward the shadow. The shadow nodded and then began to walk away. _Damn it! Don't lose him! _Sean said to himself. As he turned another corner he saw the shadow do the same. Losing his stealth, Sean broke into a run. The shadow sped up as well. He rounded another corner. He had lost him.

"Shit!" Sean cursed through gritted teeth, skidding to a halt. Demoralized he kicked the wall. His ears perked up as he heard a door slam shut. Lifting his pistol and aiming down the sights, he rounded the next corner. It was a dead end. He ran down the hallway, frantically kicking door after door open. Each room was empty, save for a desk, chair, and filing cabinets. As he reached the last door he took a step back, preparing to breach. A soft click was heard and the door slowly opened.

"Easy there…" a grey haired human said calmly, raising his hands up in surrender. His face was old and wrinkly, but his eyes shined a bright green like they hadn't aged one year. He was wearing a pressed, blue suit with a green tie. Sean squinted. The eyes looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't put a name to the man.

"Who are you, and why shouldn't I put a bullet between your eyes!" Sean demanded, raising his pistol so that the laser sight was trained on the man's forehead.

"I'm the man you're looking for." The man said, a small smile curling up on his face.

"Grey…" Sean said, slowly lowering his pistol. He was at a loss of words. His heart leapt as the man ushered him inside. The room was small, just like the other ones; a small desk with two chairs furnished the otherwise empty room.

Dr. Grey slowly sat down on a large leather chair, "My you have changed since I last saw you." Grey remarked, "Please take a seat." He said pointing to a cushioned chair in front of his desk.

"I'd rather stand." Sean said, pistol still in hand.

"Fine then." Grey said shrugging, "I know why you're here." Grey began, pausing, "You're here to fill in the blanks of your life. And I'm here to answer them." He added folding his hands on his desk.

"What is this place?" Sean demanded, his heart still beating hard.

"This place." Grey said chuckling, "This is where you were born!"

"Born?" Sean said, his head swimming in uncertainty.

"Created, manufactured, whatever you want to call it. This is where you became a soldier." Grey said smiling and taking pride in his work.

"I was- created?" Sean mumbled, trying to grasp the concept.

"Not in that way." Grey chuckled, "You were born normally, we just created the soldier you are today here."

"Liar!" Sean said lifting his pistol up once again. His mind questioning every word he had heard.

"See for yourself." Grey said standing up and walking out of the room, "Follow me." He said as he began to wind his way down the hallways.

The whitewash hallways slowly formed into concrete walls as they walked deeper inside the mountain.

"Here we are." He said stopping in front of a large metal door. Punching a password into the electronic door lock, the door hissed open. They slowly stepped inside. As Sean's eyes adjusted to the darkness memories began to flood back to him.

He saw himself again. He was limp as two guards drug him and placed him on a metal table.

"Are we ready to begin?" a younger Dr. Grey asked, his voice reverberating in Sean's mind.

"Do you have the chip ready?" the icy voice of the brown-haired man asked.

"Yes."

"Then lets begin." The brown-haired man said.

Sean shook his head as his mind was overwhelmed by emotions.

"Magnificent." Dr. Grey said, "You were my best creation. Who knew that a simple chip could do so much?"

"How?" Sean said weakly.

"It changed everything you were. It rewrote everything you were. You changed into the perfect soldier. You never questioned an order, you were perfect!"

"What was I before?" Sean asked.

"You were nothing." Grey said frowning.

Sean ran up to Grey. Grabbing him by the collar he shook him, "Who was I before?" Sean demanded.

"A guard." Grey said, panicked.

Dropping him Sean asked, "How did I get here?"

"Whatever ship you were on crashed. You were basically dead, clinging to what was left of your life. We brought you back." Grey said, standing up and straightening his suit.

"What was my name?" Sean asked.

"After all this, that's what you want to know?" Grey scoffed.

"Just tell me!" Sean said spinning around and training his pistol on the doctor's chest.

"Here. Just take this." Grey said tossing him a drive, "Everything about you is on here." Sean snatched the drive and tucked it into his suit.

"I never want to see you again. Got it?" Sean said turning his back to Grey and holstering his pistol.

Shaking his head, a small smile crept its way up his face. "I knew it would lead to this. The doctor putting down his own monster…" Grey said, slowly withdrawing a pistol from his jacket.

"Sean!" Spinning around he saw Tali burst through the door. His eyes then locked onto the pistol Dr. Grey was holding. Fumbling for his own pistol, Sean saw Grey turn around and fire his pistol at Tali. Tali stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

Kicking Grey down to his knees, Sean fired one single shot into the back of his head. Grey shook then collapsed to the floor.

"Tali!" Sean yelled running up to her. As he ran to her side he noticed that the shot had torn through her leg. "No! no, no, nonononononono." Sean said as he began to cradle her head. He checked her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it.

"We're here to save you." Tali said, pain in her voice, "There's soldiers everywhere."

"Can you stand?" Sean said helping her up.

Shepard's voice echoed through Sean's headset, "Sean! I know you're in there! You need to get out now!"

Sean threw Tali's arm around his shoulders and broke into a run, pulling her along with him. "Tali's hit. She needs to leave now!" He yelled into his headset.

"Get to the main entrance!" Shepard ordered.

Sean raced through the halls, a weak Tali in his hands. "Come on we're almost there!" He begged. Two guards rounded the corner and raised their rifles up.

Sean fumbled for his pistol with his left hand. He heard two shots ring out and turned to see that Tali had shot both soldiers. "Come on!" Sean said to himself as he continued to run. Sean felt Tali's body become weak in his hands. Taking no time to pause, he swept her legs into his arms, cradling her body.

* * *

><p>Reaching the main lobby Sean summoned the last of his energy and sprinted to the door, Tali still in his arms. He kicked open the door and ran out. Shepard was there, firing her assault rifle into a wave of soldiers advancing, guarding the drop ship.<p>

"Shepard!" Sean yelled running to the drop ship.

"Get in!" She yelled throwing open the door.

Stumbling into the ship, Sean yelled, "We're good!" Shepard nodded and jumped into the ship, banging on the cabin door. The door swung shut as the drop ship lurched forward and took of. "We need to get Tali patched up!" Sean said frantically pulling the first aid kit off the wall. Shepard stepped in and offered her help.

Quickly they patched Tali up and helped her up onto a seat.

"That'll hold for now." Shepard said taking a seat across from Sean. Sean just nodded. Shepard didn't say more. She just stared at Sean.

"I fucked up…" Sean said, his head dropping into his hands, "I shouldn't have done that… and now Tali's going to die because of me."

"She'll make it. She's strong." Shepard responded, her voice strong. There was a momentary pause before Shepard spoke up again. "You need to know that your actions effect the entire crew." She said, "Tali deeply cares for you. And the moment she found out that you had run of to Noveria she was packing and getting ready to bring you back. I'm not going to ask you about it. All I need to know was: was it worth it? You don't have to answer that, I just want you to think about it."

Sean sniffed quietly, choking back his tears. Looking up slowly he examined the form of Tali. She was unconscious, but her strength was returning to her. Her breaths were less labored. Sean smiled weakly as he reached for her hand with his robotic hand. He delicately gripped Tali's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her hand.

"I'm so sorry." Sean said, tears running down his face.

.

**Author's Note: Sean's taking some consequences for his actions. And don't worry, Tali's not going to go into a coma like Sean. **

**.**

**Psst here's a secret… sparks will fly in the next chapter… don't tell anyone!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: This chapter took forever to write and it's a bit short for my taste... Oh Well... **

**Sorry. Lot of stuff on my mind (school and stuff). It will be a while until my next update/chapter, finals and all... bleagh :P **

Chapter 22

Sean paced restlessly outside the Med Bay. Only one thing was on his mind, Tali. Chakwas had repeatedly told him that she was going to be fine, but he didn't care. He wanted to be by her side. It was his fault and he couldn't tell himself otherwise. Regret pooled in his mind. He had screwed up and he deserved to be on that bed again, not her.

His eyes snapped to the door as it opened. Chakwas exited. Quickly running up to her, Sean asked, "How is she?"

"She'll be fine." Chakwas sighed, "There's really nothing to be worried about."

"I need to be in there!" Sean demanded waking forward.

"She needs to rest." Chakwas said restraining Sean.

"I need to." Sean said breaking free and opening the door.

"Sean! She-" Chakwas called after him, stopping as she saw that Tali had awoke. She was now sat upright on her bed. Her head snapped towards the door as she heard Sean's voice. Sean couldn't see her face but he assumed she was smiling. Shaking her head, Chakwas quietly walked away, leaving Sean and Tali in the room alone.

"Thank god you're fine!" Sean said giving Tali a tight hug. He chuckled lightly as memories of his own time in the Med Bay returned to him.

"I guess we traded places." Tali said lightly laughing.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Sean said a big smile growing on his face as he took a seat at the foot of Tali's bed, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. It's not that bad, really." Tali said slowly flexing her leg.

Sean leaned forward, his voice growing hoarse, "I'm just glad you're alright. I couldn't live with myself if yo-" Tali lifted a finger to Sean's lips, cutting him off mid sentence.

"I'll be fine." Tali said, smiling. "Did you get what you wanted?"

"Everything." Sean said removing the small drive from his armor, "But that's not important." Sean then took her hand in both of his. His stomach churned as their conversation the previous day jumped to the front of his mind. "I want to continue where we left off." Sean's body began to lightly shake as he struggled to form words, "It's just that, well, when I'm around you I feel truly happy, happier than I've ever felt." Sean paused, taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "God, this is so hard!" He said chuckling. He looked up into Tali's eyes, her expression appearing stoic, "I'll just say it." Sean said, "Tali, I deeply and truly love you." Sean let go of her hand as he took a deep breath again. He felt better finally getting that off his chest. He looked up at Tali. Silver tears began to run down her face.

Sean couldn't react fast enough as Tali lunged herself at him, giving him the tightest hug he had ever had. She buried her head deep in Sean's chest as she happily cried. Sean hugged her back, feeling his heart soar. He breathed out slowly, his body still shaking.

"I do too, Sean! I love you too!" Tali said finally looking up into his eyes. They stood there, for what felt like an eternity, lost in the emotion. Sean didn't want it to end.

* * *

><p>Outside in the Mess Hall...<p>

"About time." Garrus said chuckling as he watched, from the Mess Hall, Tali and Sean hug each other passionately. "Took them long enough."

"Makes me think…" Shepard began in a playful tone.

"Oh, sorry Shepard, can't talk… In the middle of some calibrations!" Garrus said quickly running back to his post.

Shepard couldn't help but laugh, she took a seat and turned towards the Med Bay.

* * *

><p>A Few Hours Later…<p>

Sean and Tali sat quietly in his room. Tali sat cross-legged at Sean's desk while Sean lay on his bed.

"So this is everything?" Tali asked examining the small drive. I was no bigger than a thumb. "Amazing how someone's entire life could fit in such a small object."

"That's everything about me, but I just don't know…" Sean said trailing off. Emotions arose, confusing his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Tali asked.

"I'm not sure if I really want to see it. I mean, on one hand: It's everything about me, no more questions, but on the other hand: Maybe I don't want to see it. I mean, I'm happy with my life now and knowing my past could ruin my life." Sean said as he slowly began to pace around the room.

"But something inside of you wants to know it though." Tali said, finishing his thought.

"Exactly."

"Here." Tali said handing over the drive, "It's your choice to make."

Sean let out a deep sigh ad he held the drive in front of his face, hoping it would help him decide. Sean then walked over to his computer. Taking a seat, he breathed out a painful sigh. Slowly Sean inserted the drive into his computer. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, deciding what to do.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: So I have two ideas running through my mind… and one major question: Will Sean read his file? I really can't decide, so I'll leave it up to you guys… Will Sean read his file or destroy it? Vote in the comments I'll go with the highest voted one.<strong>

**Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving! (If you don't celebrate that, then Happy November 24th!)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note: Gotta get away from school work for a while… keep myself sane (remotely)… **

**Anyways… Really enjoyed writing this chapter. Got a great mix of action, drama, and romance. **

Chapter 23

Sean slowly dropped his finger onto the key, opening the drive. He shook in anticipation as the computer froze. His heart stopped. What had he done? Was the drive just a virus? He breathed a sigh of relief as the drive opened up. Sean slowly scrolled through the screen. His eyes widened as he saw the thousands of files the drive contained. Was all this on him? He took a deep breath as he opened the first file. His eyes immediately locked on the name on the top of the dossier: Alexander Dean.

"Alex." Sean murmured to himself closing his eyes to think, the name echoing through his mind. His eyes instantly snapping open. Instantly memories began to pour into his mind.

* * *

><p>Alex shook the stars from his eyes as he lifted his hand to right himself. He felt a sudden weight pull him up and off of the ground.<p>

Lifting Alex within inches from his face, the sergeant yelled, "We are leaving!" He released Alex and quickly ran towards the exit. Alex looked around getting his bearing once again. He was deep inside one of the mines of Elysium. He was on one of the flimsy metal catwalks far above a seemingly endless pit.

The ground shook violently, causing large stalactites to break free and come careening downward. A stalactite glanced off the catwalk, causing it to jar from side to side aggressively, throwing Alex off balance and into the rails. Cracks rapidly began to shoot their way up the walls as pieces of the wall dislodged themselves. "Move!" His sergeant yelled at him.

Alex stumbled as he began to sprint forward, desperately trying to keep up with his sergeant. He looked up just in time to see a gigantic chunk of the wall break off. He screeched to a halt as the chunk collided with the catwalk. The catwalk lurched under the weight. Instantly, the metal suspension beams crumpled under the weight. Alex vaulted the rock and continued to sprint. His life depended on it. The catwalks were a blur as Alex tucked his head down and forced all his remaining energy into his legs, begging for just a few hundred feet more. He lifted his head to see the rest of his team waiting inside a metal elevator

"Move it Corporal!" the sergeant yelled holding the doors open. As if the cave wanted to take Alex with it, a stalactite collided with the catwalk before the elevator, tearing it off the wall of the cave. "Jump for it!" The sergeant yelled, his voice booming over the collapsing cave. Alex took one last step before propelling himself into the air, the distance between him and the elevator quickly dissolving. His hands latched onto the edge as his body careened into the elevator. His teammates quickly pulled him up and into the elevator, punching the button. The elevator lurched upward.

The team breathed out a collective sigh of relief as natural light began to pour into the mineshaft.

"It's not over quite yet." The sergeant said, "Load and lock."

A voice crackled over their headsets as they made radio contact, "Come in Delta team; I repeat, come in Delta team!"

"Delta three here." The sergeant said lifting his hand to his earpiece.

"Status update, what the hell happened down there?"

"The mine was packed with explosives. We barely got out of there alive."

"Understood Delta. The capitol in under heavy fire, we need all squads to regroup. Take the Mako and get back to the city."

"Rodger that." The sergeant responded, ending the transmission, "You heard the man!"

"Yes Sir!" the squad responded in unison as they began to file out of the elevator, loading up inside. The door hissed shut as the rest of the squad clambered into the Mako. There was momentary darkness. Then a small red LED light turned on, barely illuminating the cabin. Only the outlines of his fellow soldiers were visible, making reading their emotions near impossible. Alex breathed out a painful sigh as he slouched forward in his seat, resting his arms on his assault rifle.

"Shepard! Get on the turret!" the sergeant yelled back.

"Sir!" Shepard responded standing up and moving up front

"Johnson! Get behind the wheel. And remember, I want to keep my lunch down."

The Mako quickly lurched forward and made its way across the rocky landscape towards the capitol.

Minutes past and the squad began to grow restless. Many of them twisted in their seats or fiddled with their weapons. The cabin remained still.

"Hey Dean, you look pretty young, how old are you?" one of the soldiers said breaking the silence.

"Seventeen. I just signed up and made it through basic training before they shipped me off." Alex responded, fiddling with his rifle.

Chuckling, the soldier muttered, "Join the Alliance, see the galaxy… as if!"

"30 seconds!" the sergeant yelled, instantly ending the awkward conversation. In response the team stood up and grabbed the handlebars on the ceiling. The door opened as the bright light and defining sound of battle flooded into the Mako.

* * *

><p>Sean winced as he was pulled back to reality. He looked up to his screen and saw that he had read through his entire Alliance dossier. He quickly scrolled through it once again, skimming the basic facts:<p>

Name: Alex Dean (July 17 2159 – November 4 2180)

Cause of Death: Shot down in a small transport shuttle, no survivors.

Family: Christian Dean (Father) Jillian Dean (Mother) Jace Dean (Brother)

Sean sighed as he leaned forward, resting his forehead on his arm. _What had happened?_ He asked himself.

"Are you alright Sean?" Tali asked, looking over his shoulder, causing Sean to jump. He had been so absorbed in the files that he had completely forgotten that Tali had been with him the entire time. He put his arm around Tali and pulled her close to him, saying nothing. Tali leaned in and hugged him tightly; she couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through.

Minutes passed in complete silence.

"It's getting late." Sean finally said slowly sitting up and moving to his bed, closely followed by Tali. "I need some time to think…" Sean trailed off, lifting his head up and staring of into the empty void of space.

"I'll let you be." Tali said standing up.

Sean quickly stood up and embraced Tali. "Thank you for being here. You don't know how much this means to me." Sean said, tears forming in his dry eyes.

"You now I'll always be here for you Sean." Tali said hugging him back. She slowly released him and exited the room.

Sean turned off the lights to his room and flopped down onto his bed. He laid there, arms crossed over his chest staring up into the ceiling, piecing his past together. Slowly he drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

><p>Alex slowly flipped through photos his younger brother, Jace, had sent to him. They were of Jace and his friends getting ready for prom. Jace and Alex had been really close as they grew up. Jace had always had the brains, while Alex had the muscle; they made the perfect combo. It was hard to leave his family when the Alliance shipped him of to Elysium for the Skyllian Blitz, but Jace took it the hardest. To him it was like losing a piece of himself. They stayed in constant contact while Alex was off on duty. Alex continued to flip through the pictures. Jace was graduating soon. He had been accepted into one of the most prestigious schools on Earth. He laughed as he came across a picture of Jace and his friends striking poses in their tuxes. Alex pulled up the holographic keyboard on his Omnitool and typed in a quick message, "Looks like fun. My little brother's growing up so fast! I'll be back for graduation, I promise." A weak smile spread across Alex's face as he found a picture of his mother and Jace together, beaming. He missed them so much. Maybe after his tour with the Alliance ended he could sign up for C-Sec, or something closer to home.<p>

"How's it going Alex?" a soldier asked sitting down next to him.

"Just looking forward to the end of my tour." Alex replied, turning off his Omnitool, "So what are we doing again?"

"What's a matter Alex? Just got amnesia?" The soldier chuckled, "We're transporting a VIP. Easy mission."

"It always seems that way." Alex responded standing up and moving to the front of the shuttle. "How long until we dock with the Ain Jalut?" He asked.

"We're headed to the coordinates. They'll be in the atmosphere sometime soon."

Suddenly the ship shook. The lights died then suddenly came back on, along with a blaring siren.

"What the hell is going on?" Alex yelled over the din of the siren.

"We've been hit!" the pilot hollered. The shuttle shook once again then immediately began to drop. Alex began to float in the air, caught in the freefall of the shuttle. He desperately grabbed for any object that could stabilize him. His face quickly met the metal floor of the shuttle as the engines came back online.

"They're taking shots at us!" The pilot yelled. Alex slowly lifted his head up, wincing as he felt his nose. Blood quickly poured from his nostrils.

"From where? There weren't any AA guns on the scanners!" the soldier yelled back. The ship shook once again as the AA rounds connected with the hull, this time taking both engines with it.

"I'm losing control!" The pilot yelled.

"I got the VIP!" the soldier yelled running to the private room in the aft of the ship.

"Brace for impact!" the pilot yelled moments before the shuttle collided with the snowy mountains of Noveria. Alex was flung forward into the cockpit door. Everything went black.

Vision slowly came back to Alex. He lay beaten and bloody in the snow, burning chunks of the shuttle lay scattered across the mountain face. Every bone and muscle in his body ached. Judging by the amount of pain, Alex deduced that he had broken multiple ribs and had a collapsed lung. His hands and legs were now bleeding, armor town away from the crash. Gasping for air, Alex fought through the pain, his hands desperately grabbing handfuls of snow, trying to move. He breathed out a slow, lingering breath as he rolled to his back. He saw five blurred figures appear from the mountain and run to the wreckage. Alex fumbled around, searching for his pistol. Nothing. He then twisted his head from side to side, desperately looking for something to defend himself with. To his luck he saw the pistol of the other soldier resting a few feet away from him. Taking a deep breath he began to pull himself forward. Pain tore through his entire body, but his hand finally wrapped itself around the gun.

Flipping onto his back, Alex raised his pistol and aimed it at the five blurry figures sifting through the rubble. A soft click was heard as he pulled the trigger. No. No no no! The gun was broken, useless. Alex let it drop from his fingers as the figures drew closer. He was able to make out what they were saying, barely.

"The target's dead." One said.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Another shouted.

"You were the one who gave the order to shoot the shuttle down!" the first one responded indignantly.

"Anyone else alive?" the third asked.

"There were four people on the ship: the target, two soldiers, and the pilot." The second responded.

"We have three bodies." The first one added.

"He's around here somewhere. It won't be a total loss." The third said.

"Here he is!" one shouted. Alex felt hands wrap around his shoulders, pulling him away from the wreckage.

"He'll do." An icy voice said, sending chills up Alex's spine. "Tell Dr. Grey we have his patient."

Alex felt a pinch as a needle was injected into his neck. Moments later the cool, soothing feeling of medi-gel filled his body. His eyes grew heavy and he slowly shut him.

"We'll get our soldier in no time. Wither he likes it or not." The icy voice added.

Sean let out a shout as he bolted up from his bed, and quickly falling to the floor.

"Ow. Damn it." He muttered to himself, pulling himself back up and fixing the sheets.

"Are you alright?" Tali asked running into Sean's room. Sean looked up to see that Tali was only wearing her enviro suit. He must have awoken her.

_Damn it. _Sean said to himself. It struck him as odd. He had grown so accustom to seeing her with her hood on. But her voice helped calm his rapidly beating heart.

"Nightmare." Sean quickly responded, taking a seat on the foot of his bed.

"You were shouting again." Tali said taking a seat beside Sean.

"I didn't mean to wake you." Sean said, embarrassed. "It was different this time. It was about my past, what was written in those files."

"I'm worried about you" Tali said, scooting closer to Sean.

Sean gave a small smile then said, "I'll be fine. I just need to get used to this." He breathed out slowly then said quietly, "It's hard to do this alone."

"You're not alone." Tali said, slowly rubbing her hand up and down Sean's back. "Do you need company?" She offered.

Sean smiled as he rested a hand on Tali's leg, "That would- That would be great." Sean slowly lay back down on his bed, pulling Tali with him. "Thank you." Sean said, wrapping his arm around Tali and pulling her close. Tali just smiled as she put her hand on Sean's chest and rested her head on his shoulder. Sean beamed as he slowly closed his eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Dawwwwwwwwwwwwww :)<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Note: Warning! Sad chapter! **

**:,(**

* * *

><p>Chapter 24<p>

Shepard rubbed her temples. Her head ached as she anxiously waited for EDI to analyze the Reaper IFF. She slowly twisted her head in Sean's direction. Sean finished what he was saying and held out his hand, offering the drive to her.

"So this is everything?" Shepard said taking the drive into her hands.

"Everything." Sean repeated, nodding slowly.

"So are you taking your old life back?" Shepard asked, turning to her computer, inserting the drive.

Sean sighed and looked at the ground, "I don't know."

Shepard waited until the drive loaded up onto her computer. She began to skim the thousands of files on the drive. "Quite a bit on you…" She began.

"I just have one more favor to ask from you." Sean said, sheepishly.

Shepard sighed, "And if I say no will you run off again?"

"No." Sean said biting his lip, "I understand." He finished, turning around and walking out the door, a large lump forming in his throat.

Shepard sighed again as she saw the doors begin to open, "Damn it." She cursed, "Sean…"

"Yes?" Sean asked, slowly turning around.

"What do you want?" Shepard asked, spinning in her chair to face Sean.

"I just want to go to Terra Nova, tomorrow if that works out…" Sean said trailing off, "just some loose ends…"

"I'll look into it." Shepard responded.

"Thank you Commander." Sean said as he turned and exited.

Shepard let out a slow breath as she opened the first file. _Why tomorrow? _She asked herself. Her eyes skimmed across the first few lines of the dossier. Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes locked onto a specific line. She quickly turned to her calendar, then back to the file, then back to the calendar.

"Damn it." She cursed once again, shaking her head. "Joker?"

"Yes Commander?" Joker's voice responded over the intercom.

"Set a course for Terra Nova." Shepard said.

"Aye, aye." Joker responded, ending the com link.

Shepard ran her fingers through her hair as she returned her attention to the files on the drive.

Sean walked slowly into the graveyard. He had chosen not to wear armor, but was suited in all black. Shepard and Tali walked behind him, giving Sean some room. Sean slowly began to pace through the isles of gravestones, pausing for a few moments on ones that he recognized. He slowly set a single flower on those and walked on. As he gradually wound his way to the center of the graveyard his eyes locked onto a woman and young man standing before a grave. The young man kneeled before the grave and rested a bouquet of flowers on it.

"Happy birthday." He said, pain deep in his voice.

Sean's body lightly shook as he approached. The young man had his arm around the woman. As Sean neared the gravestone he paused. The gravestone had an Alliance insignia on in as well as the rank of the soldier, sergeant. Sean tried to swallow through the lump in his throat as he read the name, Alexander Dean. He looked up at the woman and man, then slowly stepped forward and rested the flowers on the grave, then took a step back and clasped his hands together, his head bowed. The man and woman looked at Sean but said nothing.

Sean looked up and quietly said, "I'm sorry for your loss." He then let out a painful sigh.

"Did you know him?" the young man asked. Sean's body shook as he recognized the voice. It was his brother Jace. He wanted to hug him, he wanted to tell him everything, but he knew he couldn't. He knew they wouldn't understand it. He was no longer Alex; that ship had sailed off a long time ago. It was the hardest thing he'd have to do.

"We served in the same unit. For a long time." Sean responded, fighting down his emotions.

The woman looked up, her eyes becoming tear. Sean recognized her as his mother. She then lightly hugged Sean. Sean winced. He couldn't break his character, but everything was pushing him to the limit. "I'm sorry, it's just- you remind me of him." She said backing off

"It's alright." Sean said, "I knew him very well." He fought back the tears as he said, "He was like a brother to me." He then winced as he realized what he had said, "I'm so sorry." Sean said

"It's alright." Jace said, "He was a great man. A great brother too…" He said, his voice growing hoarse.

"Your Jace?" Sean asked. Jace nodded. "Alex talked a lot about you. He even showed me a few pictures you sent him. You meant the world to him." Sean said, his voice becoming raspy.

Jace let out a painful laugh, as tears began to fall down his face, "You don't know how much I miss him…"

"I do." Not being able to hold back his emotions any more, Sean reached forward and embraced his brother. Jace slowly began to sob, his body shaking.

"They pronounced him missing." Jace said pulling back and wiping the tears from his eyes, "I just think he's out there somewhere, trying to find a way back."

"You and I both." Sean said, "He was a tough bastard. It'll take a lot to stop him." Jace nodded slowly. "Alex gave me this a while back. Just a few letters he wanted to give you two." Sean said producing a small drive, "I'm sorry it's late, but…" His voice slowly trailed off.

"Thank you." His mother said, taking the drive.

Sean bit his lip as he slowly turned. "I'm sorry." Sean then slowly walked out of the graveyard, tears slowly streaming down his eyes. Tali walked up beside him and took his hand in hers, slowly rubbing the back of his hand. "It's over now…" Sean quietly said.

"You did the right thing back there." Tali said.

"I know." Sean said, tears still falling from his eyes, "It just hurts to leave them… You don't know how much I wanted to tell them."

"I know, but it'll be alright." Tali said.

"Yeah." Sean said looking up, a weak smile on his face as he slowly entered the cab. "Maybe after this is all over…" Sean said trailing off. The door slowly shut as it began to take off towards the docks. Sean looked back down at the graveyard one last time as it slowly vanished.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: It took a lot out of me to write this… Hope it had an effect on you…<strong>


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Sean slowly stirred his meal together on his tray. Anxiety gripped at every muscle in his body.

"Don't feel like eating?" Garrus said taking a seat beside him. He then began to hungrily tear away at his meal.

"How can you eat knowing we're going to our deaths?" Sean asked, astounded by Garrus' appetite.

"I've already done this before, and look how I came out!" Garrus said, taking a large bite from his meal.

"I guess you couldn't have come out any worse." Sean teased.

Garrus let out a loud laugh, "Ah, ouch, that still hurts." He said massaging the pain out of his mandible, "Hey don't worry, you'll come out fine."

"I guess." Sean said, still stirring his meal, "Makes me want to make some final amends with the crew."

"Whatever makes you feel better…" Garrus said, "Need a hug?" He teased.

"I may hold you to that later." Sean said chuckling. He slowly stood up, "See you later, Garrus." He said walking off to the starboard observation.

Sean casually peeked his head into the room. He noticed Kasumi staring silently out the window.

"Hello Sean." Kasumi said not even turning her head away from the window.

"Hello, Kasumi. It's been a while." Sean said sauntering over to one of the barstools. He casually reached for one of the bottles of alcohol and poured himself a drink, quickly downing it.

"Yes it has." Kasumi said slowly turning to face Sean, "Nervous?"

"What gave you that idea?" Sean said sarcastically, downing another drink. "Want some?" He said offering Kasumi a full glass. She waved him off. Shrugging Sean said, "More for me." Before downing that glass as well. "How do you deal with this, you know, the anticipation, the nervousness?" He asked.

"I don't know exactly how to describe it," Kasumi said, drumming her fingers on her chin, "We all have our methods. Just do what you feel comfortable doing, like talking to Tali."

Sean raised his finger and opened his mouth about to protest, but then shut it. He knew she was right. "Excuse me. I've got some things I have to finish." Sean said, leaving the room and entering the elevator.

Kasumi shook her head and smiled, "They're just too cute together, am I right Shepard?"

Shepard paused at the door, "You know that creeps me out." She said. Kasumi lightly chuckled.

Sean slowly walked out of the elevator, listening to the door hiss shut behind him, sauntering into engineering. He briefly noticed that Ken and Gabby were missing from their posts. Taking advantage of the situation, he approached Tali.

"Hey Tali." Sean said smiling as he wrapped his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "We have all engineering to ourselves…" Sean joked. Sean then paused as he realized that Kasumi had been dead-on. It seemed like all his fears and worries were gone.

Tali giggled as she turned in Sean's arms to face him, "It appears so…" She said in a seductive tone, playing along. They stood in silence swaying gently, just enjoying a carefree moment. Sean took a deep breath as he savored the moment.

Finally Sean let Tali go and casually leaned against the wall, "So I hear Shepard is ready to test out the Reaper IFF."

"She says we're going to test it tomorrow." Tali said.

"So soon?" Sean said surprised.

"We need to stop the Collectors as soon as we can."

"Ya, you're right. I guess this is the big mission. The suicide mission." Sean said. There was a long pause then Sean began to shift uncomfortably.

Tali smiled. She knew Sean always became nervous when he was going to talk about their relationship. She found it quite cute.

"It seems like everything is coming to an end so quickly." Sean sighed and paused.

"I feel like I need to make final amends." Tali said, "You know, incase worst comes to worst."

"Tali," Sean began, "I will personally see to it that you make it out alive, even if that means sacrificing myself. I couldn't bear to see anything happen to you." Sean said squeezing Tali tightly against his chest. "So much has gone wrong in my life. Everything has been thrown at me or used against me. I just want something to go right, just once. I want to die knowing that made someone's life better."

"You have." Tali said squeezing him back, "I also want to make amends with you."

"What do you mean?" Sean asked confused.

"I want to show you how much I truly care for you." Tali said taking Sean's hands in hers, "You almost took your life for mine back aboard the Collector ship. You've become so important to me. I just want to show you how truly thankful I am."

"Tali there's no need for that." Sean began.

"After you almost sacrificed your own life for me… I want to show you the same" Tali said, "I want you to see me for what I am, not just through this mask."

"Tali, I don't know what to say." Sean stuttered.

"Then don't. Just give me some time." Tali said.

"I'll wait for you, always." Sean said, releasing Tali's hands. He slowly turned and walked into his quarters.

* * *

><p>Later…<p>

Sean spun in his chair, killing time until the final, suicide mission. There was a quiet knock at the door.

"Come in." Sean said. The door slowly swept open as Tali entered, her figure tense and nervous. Sean quickly stood up, "Are you alright?" He asked, worried.

"I'm fine." Tali said smiling. She took a seat at the foot of Sean's bed and motioned for him to sit beside her. Sean obliged, resting his arm on her shoulder. "I never met anyone I could feel this comfortable around, until I met you." Tali began, "I just want this to work, but I'm nervous, even with all the risks minimized. And I'm babbling. It's a defense mechanism for when I get nervous and-"

"Tali, if you're not ready for this I can wait." Sean said, taking her hand in his.

"No! I mean- I want you to see me without this mask. It's just- I-" Tali said stumbling over her words.

Sean smiled, "Here let me help." Sean said slowly lifting his hand up to the bottom of Tali's mask. Tali in turn lifted both of her hands and placed them on Sean's. He lightly applied pressure until the mask lifted off, with a slight hiss. Sean gently set the mask down as he gazed up at Tali's face. He smiled, stunned by the beauty of Tali. Her fears gone, Tali pounced on Sean, passionately kissing him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: About damn time!<strong>


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: DOUBLE UPDATE!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 26<p>

Sean awoke slowly. He felt strong, ready to take on the day. He carefully exited the bed, trying not to wake Tali up. He turned back, taking in Tali's naked form. She was truly beautiful.

Exiting his room, he found his way up to the crew quarters and entered the men's room. Sean turned on the shower and quickly went through his morning routine of shaving and washing as the shower water heated. Stepping into the shower, Sean turned the water on and stood under the steady stream. After his shower, he swung by the galley and grabbed breakfast for both Tali and himself, then headed back to his room.

As the doors whisked open he saw Tali sitting at the side of the bed, slowly clothing herself.

"Morning." Sean said cheerfully as he made his way to the bed.

"You sound awfully happy this morning." Tali said smiling, leaning in and giving Sean a quick kiss.

"Last night was… amazing." Sean said sitting down. "Breakfast?"

"Thanks." Tali said taking it and slurping most of it down, "You were great too. What did Garrus say, something about reach and flexibility…"

"You definitely were flexible." Sean chuckled as he slowly ate his breakfast.

Shepard's voice crackled over the speakers of the Normandy, "All squad members meet in the shuttle bay."

"I guess we should go." Sean said gesturing the door as he stood up.

"In a sec." Tali said, grabbing Sean by his shirt and pulling him back down to the bed, kissing him again. They lingered there, enjoying the moment.

"I think we should go before people begin to suspect that we're up to something." Sean said standing up once again.

"Let them." Tali said draping her arms around Sean's shoulders.

"Listen, you know I'm always up for round two, but this is important." Sean said dragging Tali with him towards the door.

"Fine." Tali said pouting, "But one more."

"Fine." Sean said smiling as he planted another kiss on Tali's lips. Tali smiled as she put her visor on. They both quickly made their way up to the shuttle bay.

"Morning." Sean said as he entered.

"So how was last night?" Garrus asked, smirking. A few of the people in the room began to chuckle.

"Alright guys, calm down." Shepard spoke up, "We're going to try out the IFF. Everyone into the shuttle."

Sean paused as the squad began to file into the shuttle. Something felt off. "Shepard? I think I'll stay back. You know, as a safety measure." Sean said.

"Why is that? We have plenty of capable soldiers onboard incase worst comes to worst." Shepard asked.

"I'm not doubting your actions, I'm just saying what if the worst happens?" Sean said.

"It's your call Sean." Shepard said entering the shuttle.

"What's going on?" Tali said popping her head out.

"I'm staying back, just a safety measure." Sean said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be waiting for you when you come back."

"Just be safe." Tali said giving Sean a quick hug.

Sean exited the shuttle bay and looked in from the windows on the engineering deck. He watched the shuttle slowly rise then fly out of the Normandy.

* * *

><p>Sean slowly paced around the CIC deck. Everything felt different, almost empty. Sean quietly sighed as he made his way up to the cockpit.<p>

"How's it going?" He said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"EDI's detecting something in the static." Joker said, not looking up from the instruments.

"That's kinda odd…" Sean said leaning forward.

"We are transmitting the Normandy's location." EDI said.

"Transmitting?" Sean said raising an eyebrow.

"To who?" Joker said, confusion in his voice.

Suddenly the colossal Collector ship appeared, jumping out of FTL speeds right above the Normandy.

Sean looked out of the cockpit window, stunned by the sheer size of the ship, "What the fuck?" was all he could stammer out. Panic set in as Sean's heartbeat began to rapidly increase.

"Oh shit!" Joker whispered, still in shock.

"Joker get us the fuck out of here!" Sean yelled.

"Propulsion systems are disabled. I'm detecting a virus in the ship's computers." EDI responded.

"Just what we fucking need!" Sean said, sprinting off to the armory. Inside he quickly suited up and grabbed his Mattock off the shelf. Checking that he had a fresh clip loaded Sean burst out of the armory. "Get down to the loading bay! We need to get everyone off the ship!" Sean yelled, pulling some of the soldiers with him.

Sean quickly began to round up the crewmembers, leading them to the escape pods. A deafening screech resonated around the halls of the Normandy, stopping them all in their tracks.

"They're already inside!" one of the crewmembers panicked.

"Shit!" Sean growled, snapping his Mattock into place on his shoulder.

Collectors began to file around the corner. Sean fired shot after shot into each of the Collectors, slowing, but not stopping, their advance. Quickly overwhelmed Sean shouted, "Fall back!". The crew quickly scampered in the opposite direction, back towards the elevator. As they rounded the corner they stumbled upon a scion, It's gun loaded up and ready.

"What the fuck is that?" was all Sean could stammer out before the scion opened fire. Sean was knocked off his feet. He fell to the ground, dripping in a gooey blue liquid. Sean tried to scamper backward, but it was all in vain. A Collector approached him. It brought its leg back, connecting it with Sean's head. Everything went black.

* * *

><p>"Tali calm down." Shepard said. Trying to stop Tali who was pacing rapidly around the briefing room.<p>

"How can I calm down, Shepard? They took everyone! They took Sean…" Tali panicked, hyperventilating. Sobbing, she slowing then buried her face in her hands.

"Tali, we're not losing another person to the Collectors. We'll get Sean out of there, alive."

"Please Shepard, I care for Sean. I can't watch him die, especially to the Collectors." Tali begged.

"Joker. Set a course to the Omega 4 Relay. We're getting everyone back."

"Aye, aye Commander." Joker replied.

Shepard turned on the comm system, "Everyone, report to the briefing room." She ordered.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Suicide mission time!<strong>


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: ****Just a bit of explanation: I hated my previous Chapter 27 so much I deleted it. It had no importance and flow with the entire story. I guess i was getting desperate to and sloppy. This is the new chapter 27. Sorry for all the confusion.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 27<p>

Sean's senses returned to him, very slowly. Whatever room he was in it felt very humid. Sweat dripped down his forehead and neck. His body felt weak. His eyes felt heavy, as if they were forcing him to fall back asleep. He was resting against something soft, something wet. His eyes snapped open as he realized where he was. He was inside one of the Collector pods. Panic set into his body and his heart began to pound against his chest. They must have transported him out of the Normandy inside one of these things. He was going to end up like the test subjects he had seen. He pressed his face to then barely translucent lid of the pod and began to pound on it with his fist. The lid didn't budge.

_Shit. _He thought to himself

_You need to get out of here. _His mind responded.

_There's no way._

_There's always a way._

_I have barely enough room to breath._

_You can do it. Since when have impossible odds stopped you? _Sean nodded and he began to twist and turn, trying to force some workable room. An idea snapped into his head. He remembered his knife. Twisting and knotting his body together he managed to force his fingers to his boot. They barely skimmed the hilt of his blade.

"Come on! Damn it!" Sean cursed aloud as he slowly began to unsheathe the blade, inch by inch. With one last twist he finally got a firm grip around the hilt. Smiling, he lifted the blade up to his chest. He began to scan the entire pod, looking for some sort of a seal. Locking onto a small line of separation between the lid and the wall of the pod, Sean thrust the knife into it. He then began to shimmy the knife back and forth, trying to pry it open.

Sean suddenly began to feel the pressure in the pod rise. He looked around and saw a green gas slowly being pumped into the pod from the top. As he inhaled the gas, his body became weaker.

_No! You have not come this far to be stopped! _His mind yelled at him. Sean took one last breath of air and returned to his work.

_Come on! _He yelled to himself as he began to furiously work the knife back and forth. He heard a quiet hiss as the lid slightly budged. Yes! It was working! He was almost there. Sean gave one last pull on the knife to force open the lid entirely.

As if fate was toying with him, the blade of the knife snapped. _No! _He looked at the broken hilt of the blade, eyes wide in terror. _No! Not now! _He banged his head on the lid of the chamber, accepting his inevitable fate.

His ears perked up as he heard a muffled voice from beyond the lid. He pressed his face against the lid again looking out. There in front of him was Shepard and her team.

"Hey!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, using up the last bit of air in his lungs, as he pounded against the lid. Their heads snapped up and locked onto Sean's pod. Sean struggled to stay conscious as his lungs ached, begging for air. They immediately rushed forward, working together to pry the lid open. His vision grew blurry and grey.

With a loud hiss the door swung open, as Sean flopped forward. He hit the ground hard, returning his senses to him instantly. He was helped to his feet as he gasped for air.

"You came…" Sean wheezed.

"No one gets left behind." Shepard said, clasping him on the shoulder.

"Thank you." Sean said, as he stumbled forward.

"Sean!" Tali said running forward and embracing him tightly, "I thought you were dead."

"I did too." Sean said hugging her tightly back.

"The ship- I thought they had-" Tali said stumbling on her words, not letting go.

"I'm fine. Are the rest of the crew alright?" He asked, quickly glancing around the room. He looked around to see that the rest of the team was prying open the other pods, revealing the other crewmembers of the Normandy. "Oh thank god." He said. He turned to see that the squad and crew had assembled in a semicircle around Shepard. They entered it, listening into the conversation.

"I'll keep the defenders busy, you slip around the back." Garrus said.

"What about the rest of the crew?" Chakwas asked, "We're in no shape to fight."

"I can still fight!" Sean spoke up, raising his hand.

"Sean no!" Tali said, quickly pulling his hand back down.

"Sean, you heard the doctor, you're in no shape." Sheaprd said stepping towards Sean.

"I can still fight!" Sean said.

"Sean. You're going back with the rest of the crew. The gasses in there fatigued you. I can't have you passing out in the middle of a firefight!"

Sean opened his mouth to respond.

"That's an order!" Shepard quickly said, cutting him off.

"Yes ma'am." Sean said, morale draining out of his voice.

"We can't afford to go back, Shepard. Not now." Miranda said, jumping into the conversation.

"They'll never make it without help." Shepard responded, "I'll send someone with you." She quickly scanned her squad. "Mordin. You'll escort the crew back to the Normandy.

"Joker, need location of Normandy landing zone. Will meet you there." Mordin said punching on something on his omnitool.

"We all have our assignments. Let's move out.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: **

**Well this chapter took forever! Mostly because of finals and me getting food poisoning (not fun at all). Consider this a Christmas present from me! (If your not Christian: here's a present!) **

**And… here… we… go! **

* * *

><p>Chapter 28<p>

Sean hated leaving a battle behind. It went against every fiber of his being, but he understood. He was in no condition to fight, but was feeling increasingly better as time went on and the effects of the gas wore off. He was inclined to turn back and rejoin Shepard and her squad, to be a part of the "Final Mission". Increasing his pace he caught up to Mordin.

"Hey, Mordin. Any chance I could get your pistol, you know to help defend the group?" Sean asked, trying his best to persuade Mordin.

"No chance. Most likely you'll run off. Join up with Shepard. Can't allow that. Not capable of fighting." Mordin responded.

"God damn it Mordin! I don't even know where they went. Running back would be suicide." Sean said, irritation rising in his voice.

"Idea of suicide not likely to stop you. Very tenacious. Can't allow that." Mordin said, his expression remaining stoic.

"Mordin, for all I know those Collectors could be waiting around the corner to ambush us. Handing me your pistol would give us better odds." Sean argued, trying to get some leverage.

A shot rung out somewhere behind the group, reverberating through the chamber, causing everyone to duck and scramble desperately for cover. Sean turned to see a crewmember fall to the ground, shot in the leg. Swiftly Sean ran to the back. He pulled the injured man to his feet, helping him to cover.

Quickly a firefight began to ensue, but Mordin was fighting a losing battle. As each second went by the Collectors drew nearer.

"Mordin! I need, we need the gun! With our combined power we'll have a chance to get out of here alive!" Sean yelled over the sounds of the firefight.

Mordin paused, and then with a deep sigh he passed his pistol to Sean. Sean popped up from the cover and fired multiple shots into the wave of advancing Collectors, but they did not stop. As some fell to the ground, but more swiftly took their place. They were quickly being overwhelmed.

"Mordin! This is a lost battle! We need to get everyone out of here!" Sean said.

"No chance for survival of entire group. Need better odds." Morin said, his brain quickly crunching the numbers.

"I'll stay behind. You need to bring the entire crew back!" Sean said, heart pounding in his chest, "Just tell Tali what happened here."

Mordin nodded. He quickly rounded up the crew and began to file them out, Sean providing covering fire. Slowly he watched as the rest of the crew rounded the corner, leaving him alone with the Collectors. He breathed out a painful sigh as he rose from cover and emptied his clip into the Collectors, trying to bring some down with him.

Suddenly Sean felt an intense heat pass through his lower abdomen. His eyes grew wide as his vision became blurry. His legs became weak and he collapsed to the ground. Gasping for air he pulled himself up to the cover, pistol clasped against his chest. His strength slowly drained out of him, like blood out of his wound. With one last surge of his strength, he threw himself up on top of the cover and began spraying bullets. He could see the glowing yellow eyes of the Collectors closing in on him, their chatter audible. Sean felt a pressure or his shoulder, and braced for the end. He felt something sharp pierce the skin of his shoulder, but instead of pain erupting, it abruptly stopped, as if all of his wounds had disappeared. The pressure tightened around his shoulder as he began to be dragged backwards, away from the fight. Sean looked up to see Mordin slowly pulling him. Sean's heart surged again. It wasn't over. He could make it. With his newfound strength, Sean lifted the pistol once again and fired it into the Collectors. The Collectors still pressed forward, but they quickly shrunk behind Sean.

As they rounded the corner Mordin slowed. He released Sean and rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "Not much time… Need your help… Normandy not too far away… If you can make it…" Mordin said between gasps of air.

Sean nodded, "Come on, help me up." Mordin quickly lifted Sean to his feet. Throwing his arm around Mordin's neck, they both ran forward. It was them against the clock now.

* * *

><p>"Come on!" Joker yelled, ushering the crew back onto the Normandy, "Wait, where's Mordin and Sean?"<p>

"They stayed behind so that we can make it." one of the crewmembers said. Joker's face dropped. He didn't want to leave anyone behind. Pushing down his disappointment down, he hopped back aboard the Normandy.

"Lift off in thirty seconds." EDI chimed.

Joker slowly walked into the airlock the gave one last look back, just in hopes of seeing them round the corner, "Come on guys." He whispered to himself.

As if by a miracle, he saw Mordin and Sean round the corner, Sean being helped along by Mordin. "EDI delay the countdown, here they come!" Joker yelled back. He smiled as he saw them running. "Come on!" He yelled, waving them forward. His eyes grew as he saw a swarm of Collectors round the corner. "Oh shit." He muttered. Looking behind him, he lifted the assault rifle he had placed there for the worst-case-scenario. Snapping it up to his shoulder he fired bursts into the swarm, slowly picking them off.

As Sean and Mordin drew nearer he set the gun down and helped them onboard. Once they were all onboard, he punched the door lock the airlock doors clamped shut, a few shots ricocheting off the hull of the ship.

"EDI we need to take off now!" Joker yelled.

"Yes, Mr. Moreau." EDI said, engines roaring to life. All three of them breathed a sigh of relief as the Normandy lifted off the ground.

"I think I may have dislocated my shoulder." Joker said, lightly chuckling.

"Hey, you were a pretty good shot. Thanks." Sean said panting and wheezing. Sean then cringed and gripped at the hole in his abdomen, blood beginning to seep from it as the Medi gel wore off.

"Were you shot?" Joker asked, seeing a bloodstain on Sean's clothing.

"Needs medical attention. Must see Chakwas" Mordin quickly said, "Taking him down to Med bay."

Joker nodded as he helped Sean out of the airlock and to the elevator. He then quickly made his way back to the pilot's seat. "Alright…" He said, sitting down, "Let's get Shepard."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: We near the end.<strong>

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

**-Epsilation**


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's Note: **

**I'm back… ish. Took a while to churn this one out. Lots of stuff going on in my life, but enough about that; Here's the final chapter.**

Chapter 28

Sean groggily opened his eyes. Slowly and steadily his vision returned to him. The grey metallic ceiling of the Normandy greeted him. He let out a groan of pain as his other senses settled in. His entire body ached and throbbed and his stomach growled angrily at him.

He paused as he looked around the room. Confusion set in. He was in his room, sleeping in his own bed. Normally he would cherish the comfort and warmth of his bed, but everything felt off. He had no memory of what happened the previous day. "Not this again." Sean grumbled rubbing his hand across his face as he propped himself up.

"Oh good you're awake." Chakwas said walking forward to the side of the bed.

"What happened?" Sean asked, head still swimming in confusion.

"You lost quite a bit of blood yesterday from the injuries you sustained inside the Collector base. I need to check up on you." Chakwas said. Then began to slowly lift Sean's shirt.

Sean looked down to see a large bloody bandage strapped across his abdomen. "Yeah, I remembered being helped back by Mordin. What happened between that and now?" Sean asked as Chakwas began to inspect his wound.

"Well when I saw you, you were quite pale… I quickly patched you up. The medical bay filled up quickly so brought you down to your room to recover." Chakwas said as she began to gingerly remove his bandages.

"Ah… I guess that would explain why I feel so lightheaded."

"You look much better, and so does your wound. Looks like all you need is one more injection."

"Injection?" was all Sean could say before Chakwas jammed a syringe of Omni gel to his wound. His vision flashed red for a second, and then quickly returned to normal. Cringing, Sean said, "Thanks a lot doc."

"Doctor?" A familiar voice said from the doorway, causing Sean to quickly turn. "Sean?" Tali said, surprise in her voice.

"Tali…" Sean said as a smile crept up his face.

"I'll leave you two be." Chakwas said standing up and taking her supplies with her.

Tali quickly moved over to Sean's bedside. Sitting down she gave Sean a tight hug. "I thought you were still recovering, or so I was told."

"Well I guess I still am." Sean said prodding his bandage. He looked up and just stared at Tali quietly.

"What?" Tali asked confused.

"I don't know… I guess I'm just happy." Sean said smiling, "It's been a long time since I could say that without lying."

"I'm just glad to see that you're alive." Tali said leaning up against Sean's chest.

Sean smiled and held Tali tightly.

* * *

><p>One Week Later<p>

The Normandy was silent, but Sean enjoyed the silence, it felt almost serene. No quiet pitter-patter of Gabby and Ken moving around Engineering, no thumps from the Port Cargo, nothing. Sean quietly stared up into the core once again. This time he wasn't worried. Only one thing was on his mind, it left an empty feeling in his stomach.

"Sean." Shepard greeted him, walking up beside him, "I had a feeling I would see you here. Tali said this was the favorite place on the ship."

"Yeah." Was all Sean could say, his voice slightly cracking.

"You know you don't have to leave." Shepard reminded him, "The ship will be different without you."

"I know, I know." Sean said, still looking at the core, "It's just so much has happened in so little time. I just need some time to take a breather. You know… before the Reaper invasion."

"I understand." Shepard said nodding.

"Commander, we have docked on Earth." Joker's voice said over the intercom.

"Come on, I'd like to see you out." Shepard said ushering Sean forward.

The walk to the airlock was long and painful. Every step Sean felt a piece of him being torn out. He kept reminding himself that it was only a few weeks. The thought of returning put his mind at ease, for a moment. As he looked up from the ground he saw Tali waiting besides the door. He flashed a painful smile.

"I can't believe you're leaving us!" Tali said, anger in her voice.

"It's going to only be-" Sean began, but Tali cut him off.

"I mean you come on board and become part of the crew and you're just going to leave us? How? How can you do that to us? How can you do that to me?" Tali said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Tali, I know. It hurts me just as much." Sean said embracing Tali, "I just need some time to recuperate. This entire journey has tested every fiber of me."

"But you can't." Tali protested, tears rolling down her face.

"It'll only be for a couple of weeks." Sean said opening up his Omni tool and pressing some of the buttons, "There. That's everything you'll need. I'll keep in constant contact while I'm gone."

"I'll miss you." Tali said, squeezing Sean tightly.

"I will too." Sean said returning the hug. Tali slowly let go and stepped back, sniffing. "Shepard." Sean said extending his hand, "It's been an honor serving with you."

Shaking his hand Shepard said, "It's been an honor having you on my squad."

Sean smiled weakly as he stepped onto the airlock. He turned around and watched the interior of the Normandy disappear behind the thick doors of the airlock. As the second doors opened the natural light of Earth flooded in. Sean took a deep breath and stepped off and onto the dock.


	30. Epilogue

**Author's Note: **

**So I lied… :)**

Epilogue

Sean slowly walked through the streets of Earth once again. It almost felt serene staring up at the buildings stretching towards the sky. He took another deep breath, he could almost feel his mind and body repairing themselves. He smiled as he continued to walk down the busy streets.

"Sir?" an Alliance soldier said stopping Sean mid stride.

"What seems to be the problem?" Sean said confused.

The soldier scanned Sean and waited as his Omni tool processed the information. It gave a quiet beep and he said, "I'm going to need you to follow me." waiving him into a building.

Sean casually entered the building. "Is this for customs or someth-" The butt of a rifle quickly met his face immediately stopped him mid scentence, sending him into deep unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>The smell of something foul brought Sean back into reality. His arms and legs were shackled to a chair, restricting his movements and making escape near impossible. Blood trickled down from the now open wound on the side of his head throbbed where the man had hit him with the rifle. Sean opened his eyes to see an amazing view of what looked like a large, blue, forming star. Scanning what he could see of the room, he discovered there wan only one person in the room with him, cloaked in the shadows of the dimly light room.<p>

"What is that disgusting smell?" Sean said, wrinkling his face as he caught another whiff.

"That would be a cigarette Mr. Dean." A gravely voice said from behind him, "Or is it Mason now? I can't seem to keep up with you constantly changing your identity and appearance."

"Looks like you have." Sean said heatedly, trying to twist his head to get a view of the man talking to him, "What do you want with me?"

With a quiet beep, the chair turned, and Sean got a good look at his captor, The Illusive Man.

"I'm merely taking back what's mine." He said, a small smile forming.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Cut to black and roll credits!<strong>

**Until next time!**

**Sean Mason will return in ME3! (after I play through it like 600 times!)**


	31. New Stuff

For all you reading this out there I have continued Sean's story in the next installment. If you haven't followed me as an author you'll probably not get the link to my new story, so here it is:

.net/ s/7962227/1/Mass_Effect_Desolation  
>If the link doesn't work just search "Mass Effect: Desolation"<p>

I would be delighted if you guys would continue and join me in my next story.

-Epsilation


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